Whangaehu Flood Resilience Uplift Project

The Whangaehu valley has experienced four major flood events since 2004. On each occasion dwellings, community buildings, businesses and farms have been inundated, resulting in considerable damage, economic loss, social disruption and displacement of local people for many weeks. The villages of Whangaehu and Kauangaroa are particularly susceptible to flooding from the Whangaehu River, but no enduring solutions to avoid or mitigate the effects of flooding have been found. It is clear that these flood events will continue and, within a climate change context, we could expect large flood events on a more frequent basis.

A Rangitikei District Council-led project is currently underway to look at the issues and impacts associated with flooding in the lower Whangaehu valley (Okirae south), and to identify options and actions for managing those impacts. This is a collaborative project involving local, regional and central government agencies and Massey University. This project is focused on affected communities and working together to improve community resilience to flood events.

The information sheet below provides more detail on this project.

Whangaehu Flood Resilience Uplift Project information Sheet PDF 681KB

and please visit our project page Whangaehu Flood Resilience Uplift Project for regular updates.

A community Advisory Group has been established to assist and guide the project. The Group members are: