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Tom Kay/Supplied
Tom Kay says it’s time to rethink how we manage our rivers.
Changing the routes of rivers has actually worsened flood and disaster risk, a freshwater advocate says.
Tom Kay, Forest & Bird’s freshwater advocate, says in a future where extreme weather events occur more frequently, people should be “making room for rivers”, not constraining them further.
Kay has been speaking on the issue across the country, and will make a presentation at Palmerston North Central Library on Tuesday evening. Kay had completed a Master of Science in Ecology from Massey University in Palmerston North, where his MSc research focused on measuring changes in river habitat over time.
Kay’s speaking tour was part of Forest & Bird’s campaign for the Government to invest in the “nature and climate-friendly” solution, that has been adopted in other parts of the world, notably in the Netherlands following severe flooding in the 1990s.
“We’re keen to put something in front of the Government and councils to help them understand the concept. We want to work with officials and communities on options to make room for rivers in our regions, districts, towns, and cities,” Kay said.
“We’ll also be encouraging political parties to adopt these actions in their election manifestos.
“When we protect nature, we’re also protecting our homes and our communities. It’s a win-win solution.”
Kay said constraining rivers changed their natural form, reduced groundwater recharge, and destroyed wetlands and other habitat for native fish and birds. Numerous rivers across Aotearoa had been straightened and constrained, with thousands of hectares of river and wetland habitat destroyed in the process.
Tom Kay/Supplied
Flooding has caused severe and expensive damage to infrastructure.
Making room for rivers allowed the land adjacent to rivers to flood safely, while providing for a whole range of other benefits such as riparian planting, wetland restoration and carbon sequestration, increased groundwater recharge, river habitat restoration for native fish and birds, and more recreation opportunities for people.
There were also financial benefits to avoiding further construction of multimillion-dollar flood bank networks and engineered riverbeds, let alone the cost of repairing and replacing flood-damaged homes, roads and bridges.
Ian Fuller, Professor in Physical Geography at Massey University, would also give a short presentation on the science behind the Making Room For Rivers campaign.
All were welcome to attend at the Palmerston North Central Library, from 7.30pm on Tuesday.
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