Selwyn_Times: April 20, 2022

Wednesday April 20 2022 Selwyn Times 27
SELWYN RURAL LIFE
Flood threat highlighted
in new council report
Environment Canterbury has an urgent
message: New Zealanders cannot afford
to bear the future burden of increasingly
severe and frequent floods that pose a real
danger to lives and livelihoods.
The regional council made the call on
the release of Te Uru Kahika - Regional
and Unitary Councils Aotearoa – a report
urging national leadership and action to
meet climate change-induced flood hazard
risks.
Canterbury Regional Council Chair
Jenny Hughey said Cantabrians know
the effects of flooding only too well,
mostly notably the May/June 2021 surges.
“Floods displace people from their homes,
stop them from reaching work, schools,
medical care and families, and do untold
damage to community wellbeing,” Hughey
said following the release of the report at
ECan’s Natural Environment Committee
meeting.
The May/June 2021 Canterbury flooding
caused about $20 million of flood damage,
with $12 million to be borne by ratepayers
and recovery work is expected to take up
to two years to complete.
The town of Ashburton was saved
from greater damage by a well-designed
urban flood protection scheme, but many
rural landowners were severely affected,
Hughey said. Hughey said infrastructure
repairs were a long-term undertaking,
often taking years to complete and need
to be managed in addition to ongoing
infrastructure maintenance.
“We’ve just recently completed a series
of ‘Make it Safe’ repair works on the
Rangitata River and are still remediating
12 critically damaged sites on the lower
Waitaki River, all caused by significant
flooding from back in 2019,” she said.
Hughey said Te Uru Kahika report clearly
documents the scale of Crown assets
and values protected by flood protection
schemes, advocating that the efficient
functioning of the economy and our
communities is a responsibility that must
be shared between regional councils and
Central Government.
Devastating flood events across the
country have highlighted the need to
revisit funding models, many of which
have been in place for decades and are no
longer sustainable for local communities
or fit-for-purpose in the face of climate
change. Regional and unitary councils
invest about $200 million each year in
flood protection schemes. This is estimated
to fall short of what’s needed by $150
million per annum. Over the ten years
considered, that would be $1.5 billion
of under-investment in critical flood
protection schemes.
Hughey said it was increasingly clear
following the recent spate of nationwide
floods is that “a shared investment today
means better protection for current and
future generations, lower overall recovery
costs and importantly, mitigation now
may actually save lives”. Contemporary
flood protection is complex, requiring
consideration for the health and wellbeing
of our rivers as a whole, she said.
This meant more attention to ecosystems
to support native biodiversity and water
quality, managing weed infestations
that threaten habitats and nurturing the
connection between people and rivers
through recreational opportunities
alongside flood infrastructure.
Future flood management solutions
need to consider important community,
environmental, cultural, economic, wholeof-catchment
and Te Mana o te Wai issues,
together with spatial planning, managed
retreat, building control and community
preparedness responses, Hughey said.
Fill Up Your Glass!!
ESAI is inviting all you lovely ladies along to an
evening event to celebrate
‘Rural Women’
Enjoy sampling good wine and nibbling on delicious
platters whilst listening to motivational speakers
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environmental and social challenges.
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This amazing event is being held on Friday 6th May from 6pm at
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