Reducing flood risk in Hawke’s Bay

We live in one of the most beautiful and bountiful regions of Aotearoa New Zealand. But the same things that make Hawke’s Bay a great place to live, work and play – our hills, rivers, fertile plains and our coastline – make it prone to flood risk.

With climate change the intensity and frequency of severe weather events will increase, and we know the levels of protection that we’ve had in the past won’t be enough in the future.

Since Cyclone Gabrielle we have focused on recovery work and reducing risk to life, but we know there is a lot more to do. Deciding what to do, where to do it, when to do it, and who should pay are big intergenerational decisions that need to be made with the community’s input.

Between now and the 2027 Long Term Plan, we want to have a conversation with our community about the engineering solutions – such as spillways, drains, and seawells - we could invest in to reduce flood risk.

Read our latest media release here.

Check out the animation about our work building flood resilience in Hawke’s Bay and the big decisions ahead for all of us in how we reduce flood risk in the region.