Hawke’s Bay Regional
Council
Cyclone
Recovery Committee
21 June
2023
Subject: Silt and Waste Recovery
Taskforce
Reason for Report
1. This report provides an
update on the status and progress of the Silt and Waste (debris) Recovery
Taskforce (Taskforce).
2. Recent funding announced
from central government on 3 May 2023 allocated $70.6m to Hawke’s Bay to
deliver the recovery works through a vehicle like the taskforce; this report
aims to outline the operations of the Taskforce.
3. Hawke’s Bay Regional
Council is the administering authority of the funding received and is therefore
the agency to which the Taskforce is responsible.
Background
4. The objective in March 2023
was to establish a sustainable Taskforce model for the recovery and management
of silt (sediment) and waste (debris) deposited across the wider Hawke’s
Bay whenua.
5. The Taskforce, alongside
Council officers, established the following priorities once it was established:
5.1. To create a taskforce model
to sustainably manage the silt recovery including resourcing appropriate
expertise
5.2. To secure funding to
support the ongoing Taskforce recovery programme
5.3. To support local
contractors to collect silt deposited and manage silt deposit sites
5.4. To establish deposit sites
to manage the silt recovered, with permanent end uses as the preferred outcome
5.5. To manage the activities
undertaken to recover silt within regulatory and other required legislation
5.6. To provide confidence to
the community in respect of environment controls, silt management and recovery
methods
5.7. To provide clear
communications and information to the community on the silt recovery Taskforce
work programme
5.8. To work in with internal
and external stakeholders to ensure best for region outcomes.
6. The scope of the Taskforce
covers calls received through the 0800 108 838 number and an online form, and as otherwise directed
to the Taskforce via email to waste@hbrc.govt.nz, the information within
this report relates to that data captured. The first calls were received on
23 February 2023.
7. The Taskforce is not
responsible for the silt collections in the Napier urban area or the Wairoa
area.
8. The Taskforce currently
manages calls related to silt (sediment) and waste (debris and wood) and the
detail below provides detail on the recovery and management underway.
9. What is covered by sediment
and debris?
9.1. Sediment - means sand, silt and
clay particles deposited as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle. In the context of
cyclone sediments, the deposition may also include gravels (larger particles,
up to the size of boulders). Sediment may also be clean or contaminated with other
materials. The type and nature of contamination may affect how the sediment is
managed, where some form of management is pursued.
9.2. Debris - means the likes of
horticultural and agricultural flood waste such as netting, packaging,
chemicals, vehicles, equipment, caravans, sheds and building materials from
damaged housing. This includes some woody debris, which in this context
generally refers to fence posts, vegetation, and trees such as shelterbelts,
riparian plantings and orchards that have been picked up by flood waters. In
some cases, woody debris will include a percentage of forestry slash that will
be in scope.
9.3. Council-Owned Property – includes
properties where there is a clear public interest in the Recipient undertaking
the Agreed Purposes on these properties. This could include activities taken on
land that posed a significant health hazard but where restrictions on the land
may have prevented other parties from taking action to address these.
The Response and Recovery
10. The establishment of the
Taskforce resulted in increased collaboration between Hawke’s Bay
Regional Council and Hastings District Council, and the ongoing support of
Napier City Council, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council and Wairoa
District Council.
11. The Taskforce implemented a
zoning system to better respond and serve our community with the recovery of
silt piled for collection. This system still operates to date and has 18
contractors collecting silt.
12. Deposit or stockpile sites
were needed, and as close to the affected communities as possible. These are
serving the recovery well, and we continue to refine how we use these sites and
where they are located for future needs.
13. The Severe Emergency
Weather Legislation Bill while allowing additional time to lodge consents and
notify of emergency activities, doesn’t offer much other support to the
Taskforce.
14. A significant amount of
silt was quickly identified to be largely ‘clean’ – free from
debris. While largely free from debris, a significant portion of silt was mixed
with debris (organics and inorganics) and this varies area by area.
15. Estimates are that there
are multi millions of cubic metres of silt deposited across our whenua.
16. A testing regime was
established to test the silt at deposit sites, three times a week; this regime
is still in place
17. Engagement with community,
sector and mana whenua is vital to the recovery, and a communications plan and
strategy has been developed and is implemented across the region.
18. The service model was built
for silt but is able to be replicated across other areas. We are considering
incorporating other waste streams to ensure that we are collecting all relevant
information to enable the use of this model to drive and prioritise our work.
Engagement
19. We continue to regularly
update the community with social posts and videos from the Taskforce covering
the latest statistics, silt deposit sites, potential uses for silt, and more.
We’re getting positive responses and hundreds of views on the videos.
Prioritisation
of workload
20. All calls logged through
the 0800 number or online platform are assessed either by a council or
contractor assessor to help prioritise each individual job logged.
21. Assessors are looking for
whether the silt poses a direct health and safety risk to person or property,
noting in a lot of cases the how the damage has occurred to see if this is
impeding cleaning up efforts.
22. Assessors are looking for
whether the silt or debris is impeding business activities.
23. Assessors are looking for
whether the silt is impeding access to a property.
24. Assessors investigate the
silt/ waste stream and how well sorted or ready for collection the piles are,
and whether we have an end use site for them.
25. Using all of these factors
we prioritise which jobs our contractors respond to.
Silt
26. Since calls were first
received from 23 February 2023, the following ‘jobs’ have been logged.
26.1. Rural Hawke’s Bay: The predominant recovery
focus for the Taskforce with 413 silt collections logged since 23 February
2023.
26.2. Napier City: 24 silt collection jobs
logged through the Taskforce channel. We understand 23 jobs were logged direct
to NCC using their Ahuriri alliance contractor Downer to collect.
26.3. Hastings Urban: 21 silt collection jobs
logged for the Hastings Urban area to date, primarily in Havelock North.
26.4. CHB Urban: CHB has had minimal jobs
through the Taskforce channels, but we understand silt on property has and is
being dealt with in Waipawa and Porangahau, along with some impacts to the
rural areas.
26.5. Wairoa Urban: Wairoa has been managing
their own recovery of silt, with an estimated 20,000 tonnes of silt collected
and managed from residential properties.
27. We anticipate across these
logged jobs to the Taskforce that we have circa 1,000,000m3 still to collect.
28. To date over 350,000m3 has
been shifted from property, and a higher amount from roads and accessways.
29. The Taskforce zoned the
wider Hastings, Napier and CHB areas to make the collection process easier to
manage and coordinate – see next page for detail on the zones.
Zones
Impact
by Zone
|
Zone 1
|
Zone 2
|
Zone 3
|
Zone 4
|
Zone 5
|
Zone 6
|
Other
|
Total
|
|
Needs assessment
|
7
|
9
|
12
|
21
|
13
|
1
|
|
63
|
|
Assessed
|
41
|
11
|
9
|
20
|
9
|
|
|
90
|
|
Contractor assigned
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
|
Programmed
|
|
19
|
2
|
3
|
|
|
|
24
|
|
In progress
|
4
|
10
|
8
|
12
|
2
|
|
|
36
|
|
Completed
|
2
|
17
|
33
|
27
|
28
|
|
|
107
|
|
On hold
|
1
|
17
|
|
5
|
1
|
|
|
24
|
|
No further action required
|
15
|
40
|
11
|
9
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
84
|
|
No status
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
Total
|
71
|
124
|
75
|
97
|
60
|
2
|
1
|
430
|
Management
of silt – where does it go?
30. The Taskforce has
established nine deposit sites across Hawke’s Bay to receive
‘clean’ silt that is collected by our contractors.
31. These sites are
strategically as close as possible to the affected communities
32. These sites are mainly
permanent. The early established sites were temporary in nature and have since
ceased receiving silt.
What
will we do with all this silt?
33. A number of end uses are in
place and each of these add different options for the Taskforce, including:
33.1. Filling land voids within
large properties
33.2. Recontouring and shaping
land depressions
33.3. Use in aggregate and
basecourse production
33.4. Use in future land
development
33.5. Backfill material for
borrow sites (typically used for stopbank repairs)
33.6. Use in creation of topsoil
and compost for future land replenishment
33.7. Stockpiles for any of the
above.
Woody debris
34. The recovery of woody
debris across our land, in waterways, around our assets remains a significant
challenge
35. We are well resourced by
contractors to tackle this task – with the Hawke’s Bay Forestry
Group, mobilising early with funding support of $1.5m from HBRC to begin
recovery and clean-up in the Omarunui, Dartmoor, Arapoanui, Tangoio and Esk
Valley areas.
36. Silt mixed with wood
remains a challenge, we are working with our contracting teams to manage this.
Some can be managed on site, other needs to be sent to our processing sites, of
which we have three – in Omarunui, Dartmoor and Esk Valley.
37. A particular focus on wood
recovery is being applied in the Wairoa District, with many known issues
identified following meetings and time with Wairoa staff. Areas of focus are
located at (not limited to):
37.1. Mahia, Opoutama, Taylors
Bay
37.2. Nuhaka
37.3. Whakamahia
37.4. Railway Bridge
37.5. Opouiti Bridge
37.6. Willowflat Road
37.7. Mangawharangi Stream
37.8. Mangawhio Lagoon.
38. Napier coastal areas
continue to be a focus with woody debris present at Bayview, Westshore,
Ahuriri, Marine Parade and Tangoio.
39. Central Hawke’s Bay
has reported that a clean-up required of woody debris is required at Kairakau;
further information is needed in CHB.
Progress
to date
40. 63 jobs for wood collection
have been called through the 0800 number, of which 24 have been resolved. Staff
are aware there is far more wood present and a combination of the 0800 number
and our local information is required to deal with the wood recovery.
41. The Taskforce estimates to
date 100,000m3 of woody debris has been recovered from land.
Mixed silt with waste
42. Our most challenging area
to deal with is the silt that has engulfed property, equipment, vineyards,
orchards and other such material
43. Separating this is an
extremely manual and slow process to separate, which requires some separation
on property for the larger material, and the balance transported to a
processing facility to be screened to be separated.
44. We have since established
two ‘processing sites’ to separate silt mixed with waste (debris)
in Pakōwhai and Esk Valley.
44.1. Typically silt, once free
from debris, will be tested and then transported to a deposit site.
44.2. Once debris is removed from
silt it will be sorted into waste and recycle piles to either be recycled or
sent to landfill.
45. We continue to learn and
find solutions to deal with the waste (debris) streams; some examples are:
45.1. Extenday: following trials it is
anticipated that Extenday horticultural fabric material can be turned
into posts by a company called Future Post based in Waiuku.
45.2. PVC tanks: following a small trial in
Waipawa, we have found a solution to collect damaged water tanks and send them
to be recycled.
45.3. Flood damaged windows: a process has been
developed with construction and demolition teams at council.
45.4. Tanalised timber posts: Ongoing efforts to salvage
damaged orchard and vineyard posts include onsite trials to separate these,
with our teams working with companies like Repost to try to salvage these posts
from being burnt, chipped or sent to landfill.
46. We, along with other
council waste teams, are working to try to find solutions for waste and to
reduce the volume of waste going to landfill. This will likely involve targeted
campaigns on specific waste streams as we work to collect these materials.
47. Omarunui landfill received
a significant increase in volume, with approx. 15,000 tonnes of additional waste
going to landfill in February, March and April from flood-affected household
goods.
Commercial
waste
48. Waste from commercial
businesses is a challenge and as described in the silt mixed with waste section
remains a slow process.
49. Funding for commercial
properties that has opened recently to support the clean-up. Our service
delivery model will support this waste stream, where a business cleans up their
property, and calls through for collection.
50. The processing sites we
have and are setting up will be able to manage the many waste streams with
support from other territorial authorities. For example, Hastings District
Council has recently released a flood damaged goods disposal guide (https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/assets/Document-Library/Waste-Resources/Cyclone-Gabrielle-Flood-Damaged-Disposal-Guide).
Government funding
51. The government funding announced
for territorial authorities on 3 May 2023, covers the following activities:
51.1. Processing and management
of sediment and debris resulting from Cyclone Gabrielle, including but not
limited to testing, recycling, processing, transporting, shredding, chipping,
containment, or disposal of sediment and debris
51.2. Maintenance of existing
disposal facilities that are receiving significant quantities of sediment and
debris, or the establishment of new sediment and debris processing, stockpiling
and disposal sites
51.3. The collection and
management of sediment and debris resulting from Cyclone Gabrielle within the
public interest, such as on/in Council-Owned Property or other assets and/or
where there is a health or environmental risk, and not otherwise funded or able
to be funded
51.4. The collection and
transport of sediment and debris from residential properties, including
clearing of accessways, and
51.5. The Recipient may perform
administrative and operational actions to support the Agreed Purposes, and its
costs for these may be claimed to the extent payable as Eligible Costs.
Commercial
business funding
52. Part of the funding
announced on 3 May 2023 included a commercial grant of $62.6million for
businesses impacted in Hawke’s Bay. The objective of this fund is to
support businesses to return their land to production and an economic state.
53. The fund is to be
administered by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council within an agreed design
brief by DIA which outlines the eligibility and criteria which applications
need to meet and be prioritised within.
54. The applications to this
fund opened on 6 June 2023.
Resourcing the Taskforce
55. The Taskforce is resourced
through a cross council and external supplier team.
56. The Taskforce has engaged
over 25 contractors, over 90% local to Hawke’s Bay, and all Tier 2 and
below.
57. The Taskforce has worked to
streamline options for landowners recovering and cleaning up their land with a
recent collaboration with Insurance Council NZ and EQC to create a shared
authorised contractor list whereby a contractor can work for a landowner to
clean up silt / debris on property, and also be engaged by the Taskforce to
transport to a deposit/ processing site in the place of engaging a Taskforce
contractor to be programmed to collect a pile.
Risks and Challenges
58. Meeting community needs and
expectations within funding available.
59. Impact of land
classification (zoning) on clean-up efforts.
60. Land form change impacted
by further silt removal inconsistency.
61. Catchment changes and
impacts due to silt deposited onto land impacting flow paths.
62. Impact of abandoned
vehicles, machinery and houses on the clean-up efforts.
63. Regulatory restrictions and
pressures:
63.1. Operating within
traditional resource management requirements, e.g. a resource consent required
for all deposit sites to be lodged 160 days from date of Section 330
notification.
63.2. Operating with within Waste
Minimisation Act (WMA) requirements places a burden on the Taskforce to report
all loads entering our facilities and a requirement to report these to MfE
monthly. Regulations under the WMA do not provide flexibility to update waste
tonnage information after the reporting deadline has passed (except for
facilities that have been approved to report annually).
63.3. It should be noted an Order
in Council is proposed to support the challenges identified in 63.2 above and
is expected to be enacted in late June 2023 to allow wash up of data, and
flexibility on reporting.
64. Delivering an equitable
service to all communities.
65. The volume and
transactional nature of contract management required to deliver the recovery
works.
66. Resourcing a cross-council
Taskforce for an extended period of time while not detracting from
business-as-usual demands and expectations.
Funding and Expenditure to date
67. The Taskforce of Hastings
District Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council estimates to have
expended $9.7m to the end of May 2023.
68. The Napier City Council,
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, Wairoa District Council and
Hawke’s Bay Regional Councils estimate to have expended $12.063m to 30
June 2023 on non-Taskforce related activities (such as drain clearance).
69. Moving forward a budget
will be assigned to Napier City Council (urban and Awatoto silt management) and
Wairoa District Council (silt management) to continue to undertake these
activities for their communities. The balance of the activities that fall
within the sediment and debris remit will be delivered by the Taskforce.
70. A back-to-back agreement is
to be executed by the councils to agree on this commitment to collaborate and
work together to deliver on the outcomes of the funding agreement and community
needs.
Next Steps
71. The government funding is
to be spent by 30 June 2024, the Taskforce continues to monitor progress
against expenditure and will continue to report into the Group Managers on a
monthly basis via a status report and verbal update.
72. The Taskforce will continue
to support the community with the existing service delivery model as outlined
in government operating parameters (paras 51.1 – 51.5).
73. The Taskforce will
communicate and engage with the community to provide reassurance and confidence
the clean-up efforts are a priority, and that we are making progress.
74. Support for whenua
Māori is still being finalised, but funding will be available to be used
for costs related to the clean-up of silt, sediment, and debris. Te Puni
Kōkiri will be leading engagement with key entities and affected
communities to better understand the needs of landowners and the location of
affected whenua.
Decision Making Process
75. Staff have assessed the
requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have
concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making
provisions do not apply.
Recommendation
That
the Cyclone
Recovery Committee receives and notes the Silt and Waste Recovery Taskforce
staff report.
Authored by:
|
Natalie Brown
Senior Business Analyst
|
Darren De Klerk
Silt And Waste Recovery Taskforce
Lead
|
Approved by:
|
Chris Dolley
Group Manager Asset Management
|
|
Attachment/s
|
1⇩
|
Silt & Waste Recovery Taskforce
Status Report 5
|
|
|
Hawke’s
Bay Regional Council
Cyclone
Recovery Committee
21 June
2023
Subject: Wider recovery update
Reason for Report
1. This item provides the
means for staff to update the Committee on central government announcements and
related activities.
2. This update will focus on
land categorisation and Orders in Council.
Land categorisation
3. On 1 May 2023, the
Government announced a three-category framework for properties in areas
affected by severe weather to guide policy considerations, and to support
consistent decision-making across local and central government. The risk
categories are described in Table 1.
Table 1
|
Category
|
Definitions
|
Examples
|
|
1
|
Repair to previous state is all that is
required to manage future severe weather event risk.
|
Minor flood damage to repair but no need
for significant redesign/retrofitting.
|
|
2C
|
Community level interventions are
effective in managing future severe weather event risk.
|
Local government repairs and enhances
flood protection schemes to adequately manage the risk of future flooding
events in the face of climate change effects.
|
|
2P
|
Property level interventions are needed
to manage future severe weather event risk, including in tandem with
community level interventions.
|
Property specific measures are necessary
e.g. improved drainage, raising houses is necessary. Benefits accrue to
property owners but some may face affordability issues.
|
|
2A
|
Potential to fall within 2C/2P but
significant further assessment required.
|
Interventions may be required / possible
but insufficient information to provide initial categorisation. (These may
subsequently move between 2 categories or to categories 1 / 3.)
|
|
3
|
Future severe weather event risk cannot
be sufficiently mitigated. In some cases some current land uses may remain
acceptable, while for others there is an intolerable risk of injury or death.
|
In the face of enhanced climate risks the
property may face unacceptable risk of future flooding. Other property could
be subject to unstable land that poses an ongoing risk.
|
4. On 1 June, affected landowners
in Hawke’s Bay were notified by email of the initial land category their
property is located supported by 18 provisional hazard maps. The maps
were prepared using the following information:
4.1. Approximate flood extents
derived from air photos taken on or around 16 February 2023 (post Cyclone
Gabrielle) by Skycan.
4.2. Rapid building assessment
data for Hastings District Council, Wairoa District Council, Napier City
Council, and Central Hawke’s Bay District Council.
4.3. Contour information derived
from LiDAR data collection November 2020.
4.4. Photographs of flood
extents and flood damage and information supplied during public meetings and
discussions with residents.
4.5. Information from insurance
providers.
5. The provisional maps are in
the process of being independently verified and peer reviewed and are due to be
completed mid-June.
6. Later that day, the
Government announced it will enter into a funding arrangement with councils to
support them to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of Category 3 designated
residential properties. It will also co-fund work needed to protect Category 2
designated properties.
7. Decisions on the details
how the voluntary buyout process will work will be made in the coming weeks.
This will include the criteria for valuation of Category 3 properties, the
split of costs between councils and central government and the treatment of
uninsured properties. Central government is aiming to conclude negotiations
with local government by the end of June.
8. On 14 June, the first of 18
council-led community meetings is scheduled. This includes four mana whenua
hui. This is an important step in the process to engage directly with
property owners and impacted residents in each area. HBRC will be responsible
for providing an area-specific summary of cyclone impact, remediation and
categorisation and a high-level explanation of the process from here.
More direct engagement will follow.
9. There is also likely to be
HDC-organised community hubs one day per week for four weeks in
Pākōwhai, Hastings Library and Taradale Library, which HBRC will
staff alongside other councils.
Legislation and Orders in Council
10. On 7 June 2023, Minister
for the Environment Hon David Parker announced a proposal for a temporary law
change that would allow rural landowners to burn some cyclone and flood debris
waste that is currently prohibited under national and regional regulations. The
Minister’s media release[1]
says:
The
proposed Order in Council under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery
Legislation Act would temporarily allow open-air burning of cyclone and flood
waste in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti. If approved, the Order in
Council would take effect no later than 27 June, and would expire on 15
December [2023].
“The
permitted activity standards accompanying this temporary law change would
include:
Steps to separate materials, where
possible
Timing of the burn
Weather conditions
Preparation of a fire management
plan
Notification of parties (e.g. fire
services and public health)
Appropriate disposal of remaining
waste material and ash
Site testing and remediation, if
required.
The Order
in Council is now being prepared by [MFE] officials, who will discuss its
application with affected parties including councils. Public engagement on the
proposal is scheduled to begin on Friday 9 June and conclude Tuesday 13 June,
with information to be made available on the Ministry for the Environment
website.
11. Some additional further
information[2]
about that proposal was published on MFE’s website last week, but
specific wording of the draft Order has not been published.
12. Meanwhile, on MFE’s
webpage[3]
about recent severe weather event recovery, reference is made to work on
further orders in council, but the details are limited. Content currently says:
Tranche 4
12.1. Public engagement period: 4
- 7 July
12.2. Expected enactment: August
12.3. “More detail to be
available soon”
Tranche 5
12.4. Public engagement period:
25 - 28 July
12.5. Expected enactment:
September
12.6. “Proposed changes to
consenting timeframes and compliance timeframes for national direction under
the Resource Management Act. More detail to be available soon.”
13. In the table below, is the
intel we have to date on OICs in progress. Most of these apply to affected
councils across the North Island (not just HB).
|
What
|
Timing
|
|
OIC for outdoor burning of mixed waste on rural land
which is otherwise a prohibited activity under national regulations and/or
rules in the regional plan[4]
(see above)
|
Cabinet decision on 6 June and to come into effect 27
June.
|
|
DIA has consulted on eight temporary amendments to
local government legislation to simplify annual planning and rate setting
processes and extend the statutory timeframe for approving local governance
statements and triennial agreements.
Local Government Act
2002
13.1 Provide
a three-month extension of the timeframe for affected local authorities to
enter into triennial agreements, to 1 June 2023
13.2 provide
a three-month extension for a local governance statement to be prepared by
affected local authorities, to 8 July 2023
13.3 modify
consultation requirements for annual plans so severely affected local
authorities may comply with the principles of section 82 to the extent that
is reasonably practicable
13.4 enable
severely affected local authorities to make decisions to change services and
service levels without amending their long-term plan
13.5 remove
the requirement for severely affected local authorities to align funding for
activities with the source of funding so they can redistribute funds to
affected communities more easily
13.6 modify
the consultation requirements for making additions to rates remission and
postponement requirements so severely affected local authorities can publish
and allow two weeks for feedback rather than doing extensive consultation
Local Government (Rating) Act 2002
13.7 enable
severely affected local authorities to set rates that different to what was
provided for in their long‑term plan
Local Government
(Financial Reporting and Prudence) Regulations 2014
13.8 remove
the requirement for severely affected local authorities to predict their
performance against financial benchmarks.
13.9 Reducing
consenting requirements for new or upgraded flood protection schemes to
reduce construction timeframes in Category 2 locations.
|
Tranche One –
comes into effect w/s 6 June (tbc)
|
|
The DIA is exploring two options for the 2024 LTP:
13.10 an
unaudited 3-year plan
13.11 an
unaudited 10-year plan with modified content.
|
Tranche Two –
to come into effect August 2023.
|
|
HBRC staff are continuing discussions with senior MfE
officials on a range of ideas on RMA-related legislation which includes:
Noting: we have not filed any formal requests for
anything on this list and making a request does not guarantee an OIC will be
made:
13.12 Relaxing
s360 stock exclusion regulations
13.13 Relaxing
incoming regulations for freshwater farm plans/planning in HB region
13.14 Re-aligning
Tukituki PC6 requirement for next FEMP update (due 1 June 2024) to 1 June
2025 to allow a transition to national regulations FWFP requirements.
13.15 Streamlining
interim freshwater planning (not full-on NPSFM freshwater-related Plans)
13.16 Streamlining
interim resource management planning (non-freshwater-related plan matters)
13.17 RMA
appeals on points of law only (like ECan)
13.18 Enabling
local authorities to amend default statutory timeframes for affected
landowners to comply with statutory timeframes (e.g. s124 RMA timeframes)
13.19 Enabling
interim consenting processes to support rural recovery and improve water user
certainty in TANK catchments while Proposed Plan Change 9 is subject to
ongoing Environment Court appeal proceedings.
|
Under discussion
|
Decision-making Process
14. Staff have assessed the
requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have
concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making
provisions do not apply.
Recommendation
That
the Cyclone
Recovery Committee receives and notes the Wider recovery update.
Authored by:
|
Jess Bennett
Senior Manager - Finance Recovery
|
Desiree Cull
Executive Officer to CE
|
|
Ceri Edmonds
Manager Policy & Planning
|
Gavin Ide
Principal Advisor Strategic Planning
|
Approved by:
|
Katrina Brunton
Group Manager Policy &
Regulation
|
Chris Dolley
Group Manager Asset Management
|
|
Iain Maxwell
Group Manager Integrated Catchment
Management
|
Susie Young
Group Manager Corporate Services
|
Attachment/s There are no attachments
for this report.
Hawke’s Bay Regional
Council
Cyclone
Recovery Committee
21 June
2023
Subject: Lincoln Agritech Braided
Rivers Recharge research project
Reason for Report
1. This report introduces a
presentation on the Lincoln Agritech braided rivers recharge research, which
will provide:
1.1. an overview of the research
programme, including revisiting the objectives and outcomes sought, timeframes,
budgets and partners involved.
1.2. an update on the data
collected, analysis undertaken and present some of the preliminary findings.
Executive Summary
2. The Braided Rivers Research
Programme is a five-year initiative (2019-2024) funded by MBIE and aimed at
understanding the amount of water exchanged between braided river systems and
underlying groundwater resources.
3. The research investigates
how braided river systems are connected to alluvial aquifers and how changes in
braided rivers (bed elevation and width) affect leakage rates. This
research helps to inform river management practices and environmental limits.
This knowledge will enable river managers and decision-makers to understand the
effect that different river engineering interventions have on groundwater
recharge and enable rivers to be managed in a more holistic manner.
Strategic Fit
4. This work underpins actions
and outcomes listed in the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan as things that the council
will continue to do; and will do differently:
4.1. Water – the research by
Lincoln Agritech has found that hydrologic functioning can be improved if
rivers can be managed as a whole system. Rivers have traditionally been managed
primarily for flood protection, and this has been at the expense of groundwater
recharge, and potentially low-flow resilience (a proposed future research
direction).
4.2. Land - managing rivers in a way
that optimises the annual water balance, river flows and groundwater recharge
will provide resilience to climate variability and change.
4.3. Biodiversity – the widening of
river corridors not only improves hydrological function but also biodiversity.
4.4. Infrastructure and Services – Much of the
infrastructure for climate resilience is already in place (rivers and
aquifers). HBRC has an opportunity to optimise existing natural infrastructure
by simply changing river management.
Background
5. This research was driven by
the need to better understand the interaction between braided rivers and
groundwater resources. This gap in understanding was identified while
investigating long-term declines in groundwater levels in the Wairau Aquifer
(Wohling 2018). The declines could not be explained by the usual causes
(pumping, changes in ERT, increased drainage) which lead to structural changes
in the river being identified as the likely cause (Wohling et al. 2020).
However, information on the interaction between braided river and aquifer settings
was scarce which prompted a research proposal being submitted to the MBIE
Endeavour Fund. HBRC has been involved from the start (initiated by Thomas
Wilding).
What is the budget?
6. In 2019, Lincoln Agritech
Ltd was awarded ~$8m in MBIE funding aimed at understanding the amount of water
exchanged between braided river systems and underlying groundwater resources.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has provided a cash contribution of $50,000
in 2020/21 and in-kind contribution in the form of access to existing models,
access to SkyTEM data, gauging support, and staff participation in workshops
and advisory groups.
Who’s involved?
7. The programme includes
experts from Lincoln Agritech Ltd, as well as NIWA, Lincoln University and its
Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU), University of Canterbury,
Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, Flinders University (Australia),
Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), and Aarhus University (Denmark).
What’s being collected and where?
8. The team has used novel
approaches to characterise river losses, hyporheic exchange and parafluvial
flow. Techniques include fibre optics for temperature sensing, geophysical
techniques to measure ground resistivity, river bathymetry, thermal imagery,
isotope analysis (radon) and advanced 3D hydrological modelling.
9. The research focuses on
three case-study rivers 1) Ngaruroro River (partners HBRC, Ngāti
Kahungunu), 2) Selwyn/Wakirikiri River in Canterbury (partners Te Taumutu
Rūnaka, ECan, and 3) Wairau River in Marlborough (partner MDC).
Discussion
10. Reason for
Report
1.
This
report introduces a presentation on the Lincoln Agritech braided rivers
recharge research, which will provide:
1.1.
an
overview of the research programme, including revisiting the objectives and outcomes
sought, timeframes, budgets and partners involved.
1.2.
an
update on the data collected, analysis undertaken and present some of the
preliminary findings.
Executive Summary
2.
The
Braided Rivers Research Programme is a five-year initiative (2019-2024) funded
by MBIE and aimed at understanding the amount of water exchanged between
braided river systems and underlying groundwater resources.
3.
The
research investigates how braided river systems are connected to alluvial
aquifers and how changes in braided rivers (bed elevation and width) affect
leakage rates. This research helps to inform river management practices
and environmental limits. This knowledge will enable river managers and
decision-makers to understand the effect that different river engineering
interventions have on groundwater recharge and enable rivers to be managed in a
more holistic manner.
Strategic Fit
4.
This
work underpins actions and outcomes listed in the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan as
things that the council will continue to do; and will do differently:
4.1.
Water – the research by
Lincoln Agritech has found that hydrologic functioning can be improved if
rivers can be managed as a whole system. Rivers have traditionally been managed
primarily for flood protection, and this has been at the expense of groundwater
recharge, and potentially low-flow resilience (a proposed future research
direction).
4.2.
Land - managing rivers in a way
that optimises the annual water balance, river flows and groundwater recharge
will provide resilience to climate variability and change.
4.3.
Biodiversity – the widening of
river corridors not only improves hydrological function but also biodiversity
4.4.
Infrastructure
and Services
– Much of the infrastructure for climate resilience is already in place
(rivers and aquifers). HBRC has an opportunity to optimise existing natural
infrastructure by simply changing river management.
Background
5.
This
research was driven by the need to better understand the interaction between
braided rivers and groundwater resources. This gap in understanding was
identified while investigating long-term declines in groundwater levels in the
Wairau Aquifer (Wohling 2018). The declines could not be explained by the usual
causes (pumping, changes in ERT, increased drainage) which lead to structural
changes in the river being identified as the likely cause (Wohling et al.
2020). However, information on the interaction between braided river and
aquifers settings was scarce which prompted a research proposal being submitted
to the MBIE Endeavour Fund. HBRC has been involved from the start (initiated by
Thomas Wilding).
What is the budget?
6.
In
2019, Lincoln Agritech Ltd was awarded ~$8m in MBIE funding aimed at
understanding the amount of water exchanged between braided river systems and
underlying groundwater resources. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has
provided a cash contribution of $50,000 in 2020/21 and in-kind contribution in
the form of access to existing models, access to SkyTEM data, gauging support,
and staff participation in workshops and advisory groups.
Who’s involved?
7.
The
programme includes experts from Lincoln Agritech Ltd, as well as NIWA, Lincoln
University and its Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU), University
of Canterbury, Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, Flinders University
(Australia), Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), and Aarhus
University (Denmark).
What’s being
collected and where?
8.
The
team has used novel approaches to characterise river losses, hyporheic exchange
and parafluvial flow. Techniques include fibre optics for temperature sensing,
geophysical techniques to measure ground resistivity, river bathymetry, thermal
imagery, isotope analysis (radon) and advanced 3D hydrological modelling.
9.
The
research focuses on three case-study rivers:
9.1.
Ngaruroro
River (partners HBRC, Ngāti Kahungunu)
9.2.
Selwyn/Wakirikiri
River in Canterbury (partners Te Taumutu Rūnaka, ECan, and
9.3.
Wairau
River in Marlborough (partner MDC).
Discussion
10. The rivers, mainly along
the east coast of New Zealand, are gravel-bedded rivers with multiple channels
that live within a corridor, but the beds are constantly realigning and
shifting depending on the flows and conditions.
11. Much of the work has
focused on understanding sediment structure beneath the three study rivers. The
gravels associated with braided rivers form some of the most permeable aquifers
in the world, which poses the question of why these types of rivers don’t
all dry up in the summer (some do, such as the Selwyn). We suspected that there
must be a structural control on leakage from the river system, some kind of
impedance layer which controls the rate of leakage.
12. In our field investigations
which involved coring, sediment analysis, and a wide range of geophysical
methods, we found that the gravels associated with all three braided rivers are
very loose and have a high permeability because there is a lack of fine
material (silt and clay). These gravel deposits can be mapped vertically and
laterally along the river and are formed over time by the flooding process and
associated sediment mobilisation. The surrounding and underlying deposits are
by contrast more compact and have a higher silt and clay content, which is what
impedes leakage from the river. Visually, we can identify what we are calling a
“braidplain aquifer” in other rivers in NZ, and more recently seen
this in rivers in France and Italy.
13. We have concluded that
groundwater recharge does not occur directly from the river but is mediated by
the braidplain aquifer. Healthy river function and groundwater recharge rates
therefore depend on the integrity of this gravel reservoir. We think the
implications for HBRC are in understanding how river management practices, such
as gravel extraction and narrowing of the active river corridor, affect these
processes (groundwater recharge and river function).
14. We have identified that all
three of these recharge mechanisms have been compromised in the main recharge
reach of the Ngaruroro due to the particular river engineering philosophy
adopted in NZ during the 1950s-60s, and a more recent increase in demand for
river gravel. We have also identified that the river recharge function can be
restored, and even enhanced, if river management practices were changed. It’s
important to note that this situation also applies to rivers in other regions
of NZ.
Decision-making Process
15. Staff have assessed the
requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have
concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making
provisions do not apply.
Recommendation
That
the Cyclone
Recovery Committee receives and notes the Lincoln Agritech Braided Rivers
Recharge research project presentation.
Authored by:
|
Simon Harper
Team Leader Hydrology &
Groundwater Science
|
|
Approved by:
|
Iain Maxwell
Group Manager Integrated Catchment
Management
|
|
Attachment/s
There are no attachments for this
report.
