The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is focused on developing flood resilience options for land-categorised property owners in Wairoa.
The regional council has established an engineering team, which is working with the Wairoa District Council and Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa to engage with the community and identify flood mitigation options.
That team is seeking feedback from the community, along with reviewing categorisation maps, historical data including flood history, analysing high-resolution aerial photography, photos and videos from Cyclone Gabrielle taken during and immediately after the event, and building inspection reports.
“A long list of possible mitigations will be developed, and from these a preferred flood mitigation solution will be chosen and concept designs created, along with costings, to identify potential issues or pitfalls such as land access or consents,” a Wairoa District Council statement said.
A flood mitigation solution will be designed and built if it meets the following criteria — a solution that works and meets the one-in-100 year flood protection level, agreement in principle for land access to deliver the solution, and access to required funding.