There were long hours and sleepless nights as Horizons Regional Council river manager Allan Cook and his team responded to the 2004 floods in Whanganui and Manawatu.
It's that commitment and dedication that has won Mr Cook the title of Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for public services to river and drainage engineering.
"I feel very honoured, obviously, but also very conscious that anything I've achieved has been hugely contributed to by others, and the staff I was fortunate enough to lead," he said.
He makes light of the long hours spent during the floods and during the recovery afterward.
"I don't want to make a big play of that.