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Natural hazards are environmental events that happen independently of human influence. We need to manage the impacts of natural hazards, and minimise any damage they may cause to people and property in hazardous areas, and their effect on our environment. In the Waikato region they include coastal and inland flooding, volcanic and geothermal activity, earthquakes, tsunami, erosion, landslides and subsidence, cyclones, and rural fires.
Natural hazards in our region
Natural hazards are a constant threat to the Waikato region because it has:
- many areas of coastline exposed to erosion and flooding
- waterways and low lying plains vulnerable to inland flooding
- high rainfall in the Coromandel Peninsula, at Waitomo/Kawhia on the west coast and in alpine areas of the Tongariro National Park
- three volcanic zones
- many active faults
- about 20 per cent of our region’s population living on soils prone to movement during an earthquake
- about 43 per cent of our region is prone to soil erosion.
What are natural hazards?
Natural hazards are atmospheric, earth or water processes that may damage people, property or other parts of the environment. Many of the effects of existing and predicted natural hazards are made worse by the location of human settlement. Communities spring up on plains, terraces and dune systems that have been created by natural hazards such as floods, earthquake faulting, wave action and changes in sea level. The main natural hazards that are recognised in the Waikato region are:
What Environment Waikato is doing
The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) gives regional councils responsibilities for:
- identifying hazards through the resource consent and regional planning processes
- ensuring risk assessments are undertaken if further site-specific research is required to clarify the level of risk
- preparing and implementing risk mitigation plans such as site-specific risk mitigation strategies for high-risk areas. These hazard-specific policies include our:
- Flood Risk Mitigation Plan
- Earthquake Risk Mitigation Plan
- Coastal Erosion Risk Mitigation Strategy
- Coastal Flooding Risk Mitigation Strategy
- Volcanic Risk Mitigation Plan.
- providing information on natural hazards to the public
- providing early warnings of natural hazard events.
In addition to the RMA, the new Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002 places further emphasis on the identification of natural hazards and the risks associated with them. Environment Waikato is part of the Waikato Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group.
Early identification of hazards by Environment Waikato combined with public education will help people in the Waikato region make informed decisions on land development options that avoid the risk from hazards.
Environment Waikato identifies and provides information to agencies that manage emergencies to reduce the risk to people.
Other Environment Waikato initiatives include:
- The Peninsula Project - designed to protect the Coromandel Peninsula from frequent flooding, protect land, improve biodiversity and reduce pests, improve water quality, stabilise streams and rivers and protect estuaries and harbours.
- Project Watershed – Environment Waikato works with the community to identify the type and level of flood protection, soil conservation and river management services required in the Waikato catchment. There are also flood protection schemes covering the Waihou and Piako rivers.
- River Levels and Rainfall information, which is available on our website and through our 0832 Infolines phone service.
- Working with the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) based at Wairakei in the central North Island to prepare for possible earthquake and volcanic activity.
What you can do
The effects of natural hazard events are likely to be much greater if people are not aware of natural hazard risks and not prepared to respond to emergencies. The Waikato Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group website has information on:
Find out more about Waikato people’s natural hazards awareness and readiness in our indicator.
Our Publications pages list a range of pamphlets and booklets on natural hazards and Civil Defence.
Take our quiz
Our Quiz Page will test your knowledge on natural hazards and emergency management in the Waikato region and abroad. Use our natural hazards and Emergency Management pages to find out about earthquakes, flooding, coastal hazards, volcanic activity and other regional hazards.
Useful links