Flooding in Westport earlier this year. Photo / File
Ōpōtiki has been identified in a Government report as one of the seven districts in New Zealand least able to cope in a severe flooding event, such as the one in Westport last winter.
The Department of Internal Affairs' August 2022 report Vulnerable Communities Exposed to Flood Hazard was released by Associate Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty on October 21.
The report said the flooding event in Westport in July last year revealed the "challenging mix of flood hazard and financial limitations" the community and council faces.
With climate change expected to exacerbate events of this sort and disproportionately impact people with a high level of socioeconomic vulnerability, the department undertook analysis to identify other communities with high levels of vulnerability to flooding.
The report identified 44 communities that combined a high level of socioeconomic vulnerability with exposure to flood hazards and whose territorial authorities had no plans to build flood protection infrastructure.
The study also took into account the wider district's financial capacity to fund responses to flood risk.
Communities were defined as settlements of more than 50 people, so did not include isolated rural dwellings.
The report focused on areas identified on the New Zealand Index of Deprivation (2018) as the most socioeconomically vulnerable 10 per cent.
Surface, river and coastal flood hazard data was provided by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. More than half of these communities were in the upper part of the North Island.
The report also named Ōpōtiki District Council as one of seven territorial authorities that "may also have a significant proportion of their population in vulnerable communities, and which are potentially exposed to flood hazard".
Gisborne and Rotorua were also included, along with South Waikato, Waitomo, Buller and the Far North.
Ōpōtiki mayor David Moore said he agreed with the report, but the big question was how regional and central government was prepared to work with the district council to mitigate the situation.
He also said the two state highways in the district needed protecting.
"Absolutely, we meet the brief of the report bang-on – we are vulnerable, low-income and at risk. It isn't hypothetical; we are already living with things like State Highway 2 and SH35 closures way too regularly. There has been massive investment in Ōpōtiki to raise incomes and create jobs which may lead to more growth. There has also been work done over the years to improve the levels of flood protection.
"The big question is, 'Now what?' We can't do it alone, and are keen to work with central and regional government to find a way forward."
He said the community needed to be consulted on what needed to be done.
"We're not the only players in this space. We don't want to 'do to' our communities. We want to 'do with'. We'll need a new way of doing things, and we are keen to work together to find solutions."
The report goes on to say the most significant investment in flood risk management tended to involve river protection works administered and funded by regional councils.
"In urban areas, district and unitary councils fund stormwater management, emergency management and land use planning as part of flood protection."
Asked what this report could mean for the Ōpōtiki district in the future, McAnulty said the report would inform the Government's decision-making on how it funded flood defenses, though local government was currently responsible for this.
"The Government has a record of supporting communities through the response and recovery of severe weather events, but support for mitigation is out of policy as local government is currently responsible for flood risk management," he said.
"As we see severe weather events become more severe and more frequent, central and local government will need to work together to build resilience. This report is part of a work programme to create some certainty and guidelines around what support may be available for flood-prone communities in future."