{"id":498805,"date":"2026-06-27T22:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/498805\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T22:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:38:16","slug":"what-hawkes-bays-new-265m-flood-protection-projects-are-and-arent-designed-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/498805\/","title":{"rendered":"What Hawke\u2019s Bay\u2019s new $265m flood protection projects are – and aren\u2019t – designed to do"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe brief from Government was only to rebuild flood protection infrastructure back to what was lost, with the addition of a $70m project for Wairoa and a $28m project for Whirinaki, protecting Pan Pac,\u201d Kirton said.<\/p>\n

The programme aims to restore protection across vulnerable Category 2C areas to the region\u2019s one-in-100-year standard by June 2027.<\/p>\n

P\u014drangahau is the only project area where flooding on the scale of Cyclone Gabrielle falls within that level of protection, because the flood that hit it in 2023 was a one-in-100-year flood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that every weather event of this intensity will produce different outcomes, given the random nature of storm location and local conditions,\u201d Kirton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are most unlikely to experience an event producing the same impacts as those occurring in Cyclone Gabrielle. This makes investment in protection a very difficult task.\u201d<\/p>\n

Affordability was a key factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding back the flood protection lost and replacing infrastructure such as bridges and roads has been a monumental task pushing Hastings District Council to the limit of its borrowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cRatepayers across the region cannot afford gold-plated one-in-250-year flood protection. It\u2019s just the reality of our region\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirton claimed Napier remained the region\u2019s greatest flood risk. He said parts of the city\u2019s flood protection capacity were below a one-in-10-year standard. <\/p>\n

He has been a vocal critic of plans for further housing development in lower-lying areas such as Riverbend Rd.<\/p>\n

The first of the regional council\u2019s 11 flood resilience projects, the nearly $9m Waiohiki stopbank<\/a>, was completed last month.<\/p>\n

The one-kilometre stopbank runs along the T\u016btaekur\u012b River from Napier Golf Course to Redclyffe Bridge and has been designed to the region\u2019s standard flood resilience level of a 1% annual exceedance probability event (essentially a one-in-100-year flood).<\/p>\n

Post-cyclone modelling estimated flooding in the T\u016btaekur\u012b River during the 2023 disaster exceeded both 100-year and 500-year flood event levels in many areas of Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabrielle flood levels on the upstream side of Redclyffe Bridge were exacerbated by blockages at the bridge,\u201d HBRC said.<\/p>\n

The Government funding programme supporting the projects was intended to deliver resilience to the regional one-in-100-year standard, rather than specifically rebuild to Gabrielle-scale protection levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabrielle was a massive event. In most areas, it was the largest event on record,\u201d HBRC said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of money, time and land needed to give up to 0.2% AEP resilience [one-in-200-year flood protection] would be immense.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said that, in extreme events, some areas such as Waiohiki could still flood, although modelling suggested flood depths would likely be reduced compared with 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the most frequent and recurring flood events, the stopbank will hold back floodwaters. In larger events, it will provide time for them to evacuate safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

HBRC also said the Waiohiki stopbank had been built wider than usual to allow for potential height upgrades if needed.<\/p>\n

Updated flood hazard modelling for the Esk Valley, released recently by HBRC, warned that stopbanks could not eliminate flood risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cStopbanks significantly reduce flood risk, but can never completely prevent it,\u201d regional council chairwoman Sophie Siers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn very large events, particularly when climate change is taken into account, floodwaters can still go over the top of stopbanks. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important our communities understand both the benefits and the limits of flood mitigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 10 projects still being worked on include flood resilience works at \u014chiti Rd in \u014cm\u0101hu, Whirinaki, P\u0101k\u014dwhai, P\u014drangahau and Wairoa, as well as stopbank upgrades at Waipawa, \u014cm\u0101hu Lower and Brookfields Lower.<\/p>\n

Additional projects include upgrades to drainage pump stations and telemetry systems across Hawke\u2019s Bay, and a Havelock North 2C flood resilience project, to be delivered by Hastings District Council.<\/p>\n

Alongside the construction programme, the council is carrying out its Reimagining Flood Resilience Project, which is reviewing existing flood schemes and consulting communities about what level of resilience the region should aim for in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe brief from Government was only to rebuild flood protection infrastructure back to what was lost, with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[249337,95,192,27299,7793,33965,6309,24925,1976,117,111,43,139,69,13578,15381,61,6923],"class_list":["post-498805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-265m","tag-and","tag-are","tag-arent","tag-bays","tag-designed","tag-do","tag-flood","tag-hawkes","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-projects","tag-protection","tag-to","tag-what"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}