Hawke's Bay Regional Council receives independent flood review

The report of the Hawke’s Bay Independent Flood Review into Cyclone Gabrielle and its impacts on Hawke’s Bay was officially received today (Wednesday, 24 July) by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

Council Chair Hinewai Ormsby noted that receiving the report was an emotional moment for council. “Council is hugely grateful to all those who shared their experiences with the panel and contributed to its picture of impacts on our region.”

“We want to thank the review panel - Dr Phil Mitchell (chair), Bernadette Arapere and Kyle Christensen – for their complex and elaborate work over the past year. We greatly appreciate their efforts and look forward to thoroughly considering and working through the panel’s recommendations.

“As Hawke’s Bay and indeed New Zealand works out how to deal with the effects of climate change and more intense storms, learning from our recent experiences is critical. The review has identified a range of important learnings and provides valuable recommendations. “

“What all the reviews have told us is that the way we have worked for the past 30 years can’t be the way we work for the next 30 years. That journey has already begun and there is a massive amount of work ahead.”

“As a Council we are already in the design phase for the Category 2 projects (to restore areas to Category 1 – where there is no intolerable risk to life at the property) , upgrading pumpstations and managing gravel in the major rivers. We are also assessing further upgrades to the flood mitigation network.0

We are increasing work to reduce hill country erosion and we have begun writing the next Regional Policy Statement. We have upgraded our telemetry system to make it more resilient.

“There are difficult and challenging conversations to come across local Government, mana whenua and communities about how we plan for and manage floods from events like Gabrielle.

Yes challenging, but together we will need to work out how we manage water in a more unpredictable environment and storms that will test and push beyond our current infrastructure capabilities. However, working towards a greater resilient for our region is our top priority.

“There is more to come as we adapt to a changing climate – those discussions need to be founded on finding the right mix of local, technical and national knowledge – we must leave no stone unturned.

To see the report, go to https://hbrc.info/HBIFR

Photo: Independent Flood Review Panel presenting the report. to council. From L to R: Kyle Christensen, Dr Phil Mitchell (chair), and Bernadette Arapere.

24 July 2024

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