Regional Council notes

A hot topic of debate in South Wairarapa recently was the proposed closure of two coastal camping grounds due to risks from flooding.  As one of GWRC’s roles is flood management we were asked to contribute to the debate.

Now for some of the rivers in our region GW holds a vast amount of data that has been collected over time, recording flow rates at various times of the year, including extreme weather events.  This is backed up with archives of photos, press clippings and event reports that can inform the likely behaviour of a river in flood.

For many of the smaller rivers however we do not have this extensive history, as flow records have not been taken, so we use modelling to understand what a river might do in extreme weather.  We also look to local knowledge and press archives to see if they support our modelling predictions.

The Oterei River is one such waterway, the mouth of which plays host to the Te Awaiti Camping Ground.  Is there a risk that the camping ground could flood?  Yes, there is and we know that because it has happened before.  The modelling, which looks at the steepness of the catchment and the length of the river, supports this.  Also, the latest report from NIWA, ‘Climate Change predictions for Wairarapa’, September 2021 states that “Heavy rainfall events (as indicated by the 99th-percentile of daily rainfall totals) are generally projected to become more severe in the future”.

Based on this it seems reasonable to presume that there is a risk at the campground but it doesn’t answer the question of how great that is or what to do about it?  Herein lies the difficulty.

In days gone by society basically accepted that many of the risks of life were your own responsibility.  If you tripped over you were told to look where you were going but now many would find the footpath maintenance company guilty.  People look for someone to blame for mishaps.  

Rules are proliferating to keep us safe and a whole industry has evolved around ensuring that we can find someone to hold responsible if things go wrong.  Try getting a Traffic Management Plan for your local Christmas Parade to find this out.  We have become a very risk averse society.

So, with regards to the Te Awaiti Camping Ground, GWRC has advised that it believes there is a risk of the area being flooded in a storm.  How this should be managed falls to the local interests though and it is a challenge with no easy answers.   Any options currently on the table would wisely be considered by decision makers using Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong, will go wrong (one day).  When it does, personal responsibility will be out the door and somebody will be looking for someone to blame.

  Adrienne Staples