Taranaki Regional Council

Taranaki Nature Based Solutions Modelling - Regional and Waitotara

What we need
Taranaki Regional Council in partnership with Te Kaahui o Rauru has been awarded funding from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) to undertake hydrodynamic modelling of nature-based solutions (NbS) to flooding in Taranaki.
We are seeking to engage a consultant to carry out a feasibility study with the outcome of producing and supplying:
a. A high-level hydrodynamic model and report for the Taranaki Region for a range of rainfall events/climate scenarios testing/identifying any suitable NbS that may reduce the impact of flooding.
b. A hydrodynamic model and report for the Waitōtara catchment for a range of rainfall events/climate scenarios with analysis of the model to test NbS and provide recommendations on locations where it would be appropriate to utilise NbS, or a combination of
NbS and grey infrastructure to reduce the impact of flooding.
The model, modelling outputs and recommendations for the Waitōtara catchment will be used to inform further NbS feasibility studies which aim to tie in Te Ao Māori threads that come from local Marae and Hapū.

What we don’t want
The purpose of this project is a feasibility study only, we do not require taking it to the proof of concept or business case.

Why should you bid?
It is predicted that climate change will significantly impact the frequency and severity of flooding from rivers and streams in Taranaki (Climate change projections and impacts for Taranaki, 2022). There is evidence to suggest climate change will result in an increase in flood events due to more extreme rainfall events by mid-century. These increases will make it harder for infrastructure solutions to managing flood risk to keep pace, placing a heavier reliance of forecasting and warning systems to reduce the loss of life.
Nature-based solutions have the potential to further reduce the risk from flooding across the region while also addressing social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, whilst simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services and resilience and biodiversity benefits. This is an opportunity to be part of developing a greater understanding of flood risk throughout Taranaki and how NbS may be able to help improve the resilience of our communities and ecosystems to this risk. The Waitōtara catchment project will provide a unique opportunity to work with the project team made up of Regional Council and Te Kaahui o Rauru representatives to develop new flood modelling

Department/Business Unit: Operations - Rivers