Natural hazards such as flooding, coastal erosion and inundation, earthquakes, liquefaction, landslides, droughts, and wildfires can impact both the environment and our wellbeing. We cannot control the forces of nature, but we can reduce their impact by building our resilience to withstand and recover.
Tasman District Council responds to natural hazards in a variety of ways. These include managing land and resource use (e.g. through zoning and controlling land use activities), prevention or harm-reduction of the hazard (e.g. flood monitoring and warning, flood protection schemes, raising ground and floor levels on new buildings in flood prone areas, avoiding new buildings on fault lines), and emergency response to events.
We want to ensure that anyone living in Tasman is aware of the natural hazards that might affect them. As a council, we are improving our knowledge about local hazards and sharing that information with affected landowners and communities. This work will enable people with a stake in our district to better understand the extent of the hazards we face, while we support communities to prepare and build their own resilience.
There is a significant programme of work happening around coastal hazards and sea level rise through our Coastal Management Project - Responding to Climate Change. In addition to this, we have reviewed our knowledge of geological natural hazards (slope instability, active earthquake faults, seismic liquefaction); and are looking to better understand the risk of wildfire and drought in the district. Council monitors rainfall and river flows and maintains a flood warning system. It also has an ongoing programme of computer-based modelling of flood and stormwater flows.
We’ve started a project to bring together our natural hazards spatial data into a single, online, easy to use, natural hazards map viewer. While this work is under development, you can view the following existing interactive maps:
For other hazards, you can email info@tasman.govt.nz or phone 03 543 8400 for further information.
We know from long-term temperature monitoring that Tasman is getting warmer. The effects of climate change increases the intensity and frequency of weather related natural hazard events such as flooding, drought, and erosion. This will get more serious over time and many of our homes, businesses and infrastructure are in coastal areas or beside rivers. Climate change is also starting to affect what can be grown and where. A warming climate means new pests and diseases will impact our primary industries and Tasman’s primary industries are significant to our local economy.
The Council has considered the effects of climate change in our work programmes for many years. Recently, we have moved to provide further leadership and advocacy by adopting the Tasman Climate Action Plan which aims to drive reductions in Council emissions and improve resilience. As well as working to mitigate emissions and the problems affecting us, we need to work together to ensure that, as a community, we are prepared and ready to adapt to our ever-changing environment.
The Council uses natural hazards information to inform a number of Council functions and work programmes including:
Damaging natural hazard events can and do happen in Tasman. In some cases, there may be limited warning (such as a weather-related events), in others there may be no warning (such as earthquakes).
In an emergency, you may be isolated at home for three days or more without your normal services such as electricity, internet, water and wastewater etc. Roads and bridges may be impassable. It can take time to get a full emergency response under way and services restored, so you need to be prepared to help yourself, your family and your neighbours in the immediate hours and days after a significant event.
For information on how to get prepared, visit the Nelson Tasman Emergency Management website(external link).
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