Avoiding floods
How land use and geology affects flooding
Land use
The way we choose to use the land in our region has an
impact on the amount of water that reaches our streams and rivers
during rainy weather; it can affect the impact of a flood
event.
Hard surfaces such as roofing and concrete allow
little or no water absorption, so almost all the water falling on
these surfaces stays above ground. Land that can soak up some of
the water falling on it will mean more water can fall before
flooding begins. In general the denser the vegetation cover and the
larger the vegetation type the more water it will soak up, e.g.
dense bush will absorb more water than paddock grass.
Geology
The geology of a region can affect how fast the land becomes saturated with water and flooding occurs. Soils are made up of tiny particles of weathered rock, organic matter; these particles pack together forming a soil structure filled with pore space (tiny spaces between the particles). This pore space is generally filled with air or liquid, when it rains water fills up the pore spaces. Flooding occurs when all the pore spaces are filled with water (saturated) and the soil cannot absorb any more. Different soil types are able to absorb different quantities of water, dependent on the amount of pore space between the soil particles.
Include landuse and geology maps for each major catchment in the Bay
Link to an easy science experiment explaining absorption
Minimising flood risk in the Bay of Plenty
Although we are not able to control the weather there are
things we can do to protect our communities and ensure that we are
as prepared as possible should a flood strike.
Some of the things that are currently happening to
minimise the risk in Bay of Plenty communities are as
follows;
Floodplain management strategies - major river schemes
These documents are written for each of the major catchments that have flood control schemes operating within them, they aim to provide a long term sustainable approach to the management of flooding within their catchments.
Flood manual
This is a Bay of Plenty Regional Council manual setting our steps to be taken by staff should a flood be predicted and then during a flood on one of the Bays major rivers, it indicates who needs to be warned and when, when to put up floodwalls and more.
Civil defence management plans
District councils have the responsibility to be prepared
to manage a disaster that affects their district, and so they must
also have plans that outline how they will do this. If a disaster
is larger than a district can handle alone, or the disaster affects
multiple districts within a region then the Regional Council may
take over control of the situation. And so the Bay of Plenty
Regional council has plans that outline their plan should this
happen.
Emergency response teams
Where would we be without these essential services, when disaster strikes we know we can call the police, fire service and the ambulance, but did you know that many of the district councils in the Bay of Plenty have teams of volunteers trained to help when disaster strikes your community?
Warning systems
Warnings can come from both the metservice and councils during flood events.
- The met service provides us with advanced warning of the
type of weather we have coming. If heavy rain is coming they will
indicate when this is likely to fall and how much will fall, this
provides a warning to emergency services, councils and the general
public.
- The Bay of Plenty Regional Council also warns people within river schemes of river conditions at set trigger points (set out in the Flood Manual), giving them advanced warning of potential flooding, as well as giving general media releases on river conditions.
Click to go to current warnings from the met
service
Flood protection methods
Stopbanks, floodgates, floodwalls, floodway, bank protection methods, sandbagging and temporary floodwalls can all be used to help keep flood waters in areas that will minimise the threat to people and infrastructure.
More information on Flood protection methods
Smart town and development planning
If we know that areas are not safe for people to live in
local councils can minimise the risk to our community be not
allowing people to build in these location or ensuring that they
put measures in place to make it safer for them to live
there.
Public awareness
If a community is aware of the threat of a disaster to them they are more likely to be prepared, mentally, emotionally and physically. The Bay of Plenty is often affected by flooding, we have many measures in place to reduce this risk, but it is not possible to illuminate all risk.
Business and home plans and emergency kits
Every home and business should have an evacuation plan,
see get ready get through for more help.
Every home should put together an emergency kit,
items that will help you survive for a minimum of three days alone.
These help us survive till help arrives, should a
flood leave us stranded or threaten out location.
Emergency survival kit and get away kit
Insurance
Having the correct type of insurance to cover you in a flood and having cover for the right amount will help you to recover quickly should your property be affected by any damage during a flood event.