Water Futures Community Hui

Understanding and responding to our changing environment

No, not Three Waters!  Think more about rainwater, groundwater, salt water, inundation, infiltration, floods and slips; think gradual changes to our landscape over the long term; think protection and planning as a community rather than responding to frequent emergency situations.  We are all affected by Water Futures no matter where we live. A lack of planning will cost us all dearly.

Why is it important for communities to have a strong voice in problem solving? Where are our vulnerabilities?  What are our strengths?  What are our experiences?  What are our options?  What can we do as a community to prevent disruption?  How will my property be affected?  What can I do to protect it?  What is my responsibility for avoiding major loss?

This free POWA Hui is about coming together to understand our changing landscape and identify our unique problems with respect to water. We can begin to develop local solutions built upon our knowledge and our experiences of our East Otago environment.  No one knows our area better than we do and no one is better placed than us to come up with suitable, community-led solutions to future situations.

We will learn from experts about how data is collected, the latest scientific findings related to this area, the interpretation of those findings and how we, as a community, might apply that knowledge to our towns and countryside for the benefit of future generations and ourselves.  These 15-minute presentations will be followed by a question and answer session with the expert panel and time to share audience suggestions.

Dr Jean-Luc Payan, (Manager Natural Hazards, Otago Regional Council) will cover the work ORC does to collect observations and data on the natural environment to understand and monitor changes and potential problems in our area.

Dr Simon Cox (Principal Scientist at GNS Science) will speak about Lessons from our landscape and its changing shape, in particular how LiDAR (the measurement of 3D land features) informs our understanding of the landscape, the geological processes that have shaped it, how they might play out in the future and the role that water plays in all of this.

Associate Professor Janet Stephenson (Deputy Director, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago) and Associate Professor Sophie Bond (School of Geography, University of Otago) will draw on various research projects to demonstrate why community involvement is important in responding to change and what good leadership looks like.

Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki speaker will be confirmed shortly.

EOEC, 12noon to 2pm, Sunday 18 August (lunch provided, all welcome)