Motueka Catchment Collective

Flooding & Resilience meeting Monday 6.30pm, October 11^th at Shedwood Hall

We should have a very interesting Catchment Collective meeting this October, with the opportunity to review past major flooding events, the July 17^th one of this year, and to learn about future potential events that include accounting for climate change scenarios.  Whether you live by the main Motueka river or its tributaries and your property suffered significant flood damage, or you live in a flood plain area (which includes Tapawera village) and know or want to know how and what measures can minimise future flood damage, or you are simply a land user and ratepayer in the catchment with an interest in how our rivers are managed; come along and find out more from knowledgeable speakers on past, present & future flooding and contribute to the conversation that the presentations generate.

We will have brief presentations from three speakers; local Lloyd Faulkner talking about the past big flood events on the Motueka and his take on key issues and measures that are effective to manage flood impacts.  Council staff will present some amazing drone photos of the July 17/18 flood and key aspects related to this recent flood.  Bryan Scoles, Resource Scientist will share the flood modelling that was done last year for the upper Motueka area that includes predictions given climate forecast changes in weather patterns.  He will bring along a range of maps etc and is keen to see photos & information that the community has of flood levels.  It all helps improve the base data that can inform the modelling going forward.  So do bring along some photos if you have them and/or maps of your place where flood levels reached.

Rivers flood and we are likely to have more frequent flooding events.  The meeting is a chance to generate better communication sharing between Council and community and position ourselves collectively with greater readiness for the future, building on the lessons and information that we have gained.  None of us know when the next big flood is coming but we will do well to consider how to be better prepared, limit potential damage, protect productive land and work with the resources available to us.