The impact of floods on farmland: A call for managed relocation

It’s hard to comprehend the devastation ‘Cyclone Gabrielle’ has caused and from the IrrigationNZ team to those affected our thoughts are with you.

] by Stephen McNally

] IrrigationNZ Technical Advisor

What is also hard to comprehend is the differences in weather we can experience in Aotearoa, with much of the lower South Island conditions are very dry and irrigation is being utilised where it can be.

Whereas those in the Hawkes Bay and surrounds, many irrigation systems have likely been wiped out due to the deluge of water, and irrigation is likely the last thing on people’s minds.

As climate change accelerates, we are experiencing more frequent and severe weather events that have far-reaching impacts on communities, particularly on their critical infrastructure and their ability to manage resources effectively. The recent floods that hit New Zealand’s eastern districts, particularly in Hawkes Bay, have highlighted the vulnerability of our flood plains and the need for better resource management reforms.

As devastating as these floods are, they are part of a natural process that has been occurring for eons. Flood plains have been formed by the movement of fertile sediments and soils from sub-alpine areas and forests to flat plains. For centuries, these fertile plains have been essential for food production and water supply, making them ideal locations for human settlements. However, with climate change comes more extreme weather events including floods, which are disrupting our settlements and food production necessities.

The New Zealand National Climate Adaptation Plan, released by the government last year, introduced the term ‘managed retreat’. While this term has mainly been applied to at-risk eroding coastlines, it also applies to our river flood plains.

Managed retreat, however, poses a problem: we need to have somewhere for people to go, including their businesses and particularly the business of growing food.

We cannot simply displace people without a plan for accommodating the lost productivity somewhere. It is unacceptable to say that we will just import more, as those off-shore production areas are just as vulnerable, and long-term our economic balance of payments cannot cut off our agricultural economic driver while we spend more on imported food produced with dubious environmental impact.

This is why the term ‘managed relocation’ is more sensible than a one-way journey of retreat. Managed relocation suggests a longer-term view of society and has a positive thought pattern around resilience and adaptation.

It means relocating to safer areas, with suitable soils and climate for food production, and with access to water. This way, we can maintain our agricultural econom- ic driver, our critical infrastructure, and our communities’ ability to manage resources effectively.

Society as a whole will have to grapple with climate change and the joint obligations that this disruption will place on us and share that burden equitably; it is unreasonable to expect the current generation to absorb this on their own.

The Canterbury floods a few years back and the recent floods in Hawkes Bay have shown us that we need to rethink our resource management reforms and critical infrastructure.

We need to embrace asset management maturity and develop a plan for managed relocation that accommodates the lost productivity somewhere safe, so that we can continue to grow food and sustain our COMMUNITIES, even in the face of extreme weather events.

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