The Situation
Waikato Regional Council (WRC) had the need for a public facing web application to enable residents, local councils and other stakeholders to ascertain to what degree their property is susceptible to flooding and what impact rising sea levels will have on their property.
Sea level rise in New Zealand over the next 50 years is projected to be half a metre, extending to a metre over the next century, according to NIWA and the Ministry for the Environment.
Floods are the costliest natural disasters in the world in terms of both human and monetary impact. Knowing when a flood is going to happen, what will be flooded, who will be affected and how to respond is of great importance to reducing loss of life and property.
This type of information has been publicly available for some time, but not in an easily accessible, usable format for the public and others to use.
The Solution
Waikato Regional Council partnered with e-Spatial to develop a ground-breaking online tool to help people assess the potential impacts of projected sea level rise scenarios on Waikato’s coastal properties. The Coastal Inundation Mapping tool was officially launched by Waikato Regional Council on 2 March 2016.
“It’s the first time a tool like this has been developed in New Zealand” – Rick Liefting, WRC Senior Regional Hazards Advisor.
The online tool will allow people to self-select how different levels of sea level rise may generally affect their coastal areas and individual properties. It won’t, however, make predictions about when such sea rise levels may be achieved. People can choose for themselves what the most likely water levels will be over what time frame and make their own judgment, based on advice from a range of agencies, on whether those scenarios might actually occur.
Besides climate change-induced sea level rise, the coastal inundation tool will let people assess storm effects. Information on tsunami inundation for selected areas will also be available.
“Sea level rise is projected in our coastal communities over coming decades and our online tool will be valuable in helping local councils, communities and individual property owners to manage the risk involved. It will also help them make judgments about the risks posed by storm surges and tsunami,” - Rick Liefting.
Planning now for the future allows everyone more time to manage impacts as best we can.
“The tool is there for people to better understand the ‘what if’s’ and start the conversation about how projected sea level rise may affect our coastal areas.
“There’s been high demand from local councils and other stakeholders for this type of information and our new tool is in part a response to that. It’s also part of the council’s regional hazards programme’s general role to provide information to the community about hazards and help people to manage risk.”
The tool is accessible at www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/coastal-inundation-tool/
The Benefits
“Sea level rise is projected in our coastal communities over coming decades and our online tool will be valuable in helping local councils, communities and individual property owners to manage the risk involved. It will also help them make judgments about the risks posed by storm surges and tsunami,” - Rick Liefting.
Planning now for the future allows everyone more time to manage impacts as best we can.
“The tool is there for people to better understand the ‘what if’s’ and start the conversation about how projected sea level rise may affect our coastal areas.
“There’s been high demand from local councils and other stakeholders for this type of information and our new tool is in part a response to that. It’s also part of the council’s regional hazards programme’s general role to provide information to the community about hazards and help people to manage risk.”