Coastal Management Project work programme (2019-2022)
We’ve re-focussed our Coastal Management Project in favour of an ‘all-natural hazards’ community adaptation approach, see our Adapting to Natural Hazards and Climate Change page for more information.
Between 2019 and 2022 Council initiated a ‘Coastal Management Project’ work programme aiming to enable our Tasman Bay / Te Tai o Aorere and Golden Bay/Mohua communities to work towards long-term adaptation planning for sea level rise and coastal hazards. Early stages focussed on raising awareness and developing a common understanding about what we know about sea level rise and coastal hazards, and the high-level options that enable us to adapt.
This work was guided by recommended good practice set out in the Ministry for the Environment’s Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance 2017 (and updated early 2024).
Since the Coastal Management Project was launched in 2019, several things have happened which has made us take stock and re-focus our work programme:
The work that was completed under the Coastal Management Project will stand us in good stead for future adaptation planning conversations and it will influence a range of Council’s work programmes. Thank you to all those who engaged in this work programme and shared their feedback.
Read more about Adapting to Natural Hazards and Climate Change.
Key coastal management project work and resources:
Between 2019 – 2022 we worked on a project aiming to enable our Tasman Bay / Te Tai o Aorere and Golden Bay/Mohua communities to work towards long-term adaptive planning for sea level rise and coastal hazards. The work programme now has been re-focussed and takes an ‘all-natural hazards’ approach, see our Adapting to Natural Hazards and Climate Change page for more details.
While the rate and magnitude of future sea level rise is uncertain, we do know that rising sea levels will have increasing implications for development and infrastructure in coastal areas along with environmental, cultural and societal effects.
Tasman's coastline spans over 700km of open coast and estuary shorelines, the geography ranges from rocky and cliff landforms to dunes, sandy beaches and sand spits.
Treasured by our communities and visitors alike, it stretches from the rugged northwest coast, the uniqueness of Farewell Spit, the seaside communities in Golden Bay/Mohua, the golden sands of Abel Tasman National Park, and the expanse of the Waimea Inlet.
Over time our communities across Tasman Bay / Te Tai o Aorere and Golden Bay / Mohua have become synonymous with summer sun, sea and camping. As well as permanent residents, these areas attract holiday makers from across New Zealand and internationally.
Our coastal communities have different characteristics. Some are linear development (e.g. Pākawau, Ruby Bay), some are on sandspits and small peninsulas (e.g. Totara Avenue, Parapara, Tata Beach, Torrent Bay, Kina), while others are in bays (e.g. Ligar Bay, Kaiteriteri), or are larger townships on river/coastal plains (e.g. Collingwood, Motueka, Richmond).
Our coastal environment holds significant environmental and cultural values, provides employment and economic opportunities, numerous recreational activities and experiences, as well as being a great place to live.
Like other coastal communities around New Zealand, Tasman has experienced and will continue to experience the impacts of coastal hazards. Many parts of our coastline are vulnerable to coastal storm inundation and/or coastal erosion. Ex-tropical cyclones Drena (1997) and Fehi (2018) are two notable examples of storm surge events which caused significant damage along our coastline.
The probability, severity and extent of coastal inundation and erosion hazards will increase as a result of projected climate change and associated sea level rise and increased storminess.
“Legends tell of Uruao, the first of the Polynesian voyaging canoes to land ... like the rest of New Zealand, Nelson was first settled around the ninth century.
Gardens were quickly established throughout the region, including alongside the Waimea River, and in Motueka and Riwaka, Mapua and Parapara.
Most villages were on the coast, close to river valleys. The location of each settlement was planned with both transport and food in mind. Waka (canoes) were used around the coast and up river valleys.”
From Jim McAloon’s “Nelson: A Regional History” (1997)
Through Council’s activity management plans we already identify Council infrastructure and assets that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
View our Activity Management Plans
Nationally, climate change and any adaptation response will present new challenges (as well as new opportunities) for iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori enterprise.
Eight iwi are tāngata whenua in Te Tau Ihu (the top of the South Island). Tasman District also covers the northern part of the Ngāi Tahu takiwā (tribal area/territory). These iwi have all been through Treaty of Waitangi settlement processes and the resulting statutory acknowledgement documents contain information on the cultural, spiritual, historic and traditional associations each of the iwi have with the coastal areas in Tasman District.
VIew Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements
Some iwi authorities have also lodged iwi management plans with the Council. These plans are a written statement identifying important issues regarding the use of natural and physical resources for the iwi and are lodged with councils under the Resource Management Act 1991.
These information sources provide a starting point for our discussions with iwi on responding to climate change.
There is a growing body of national research which considers the effects of climate change (including sea level rise) and natural hazards, and how we can respond, adapt and thrive.
Read about our Coastal Risk Assessment and other agencies national risk assessment work.
The Government’s 11 ‘National Science Challenges’ research programmes bring together the country’s top scientists to work collaboratively to tackle the biggest science-based issues and opportunities facing New Zealand. Two Challenges relevant to our work are:
Research: Insurance Retreat in Aotearoa New Zealand
This Deep South National Science Challenge report analyses the change in frequency of coastal flood events over the next few decades and how quickly sea level rise induced ‘insurance retreat’ will affect coastal areas in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Also, it estimates how expected sea level rise translates into higher insurance premiums.
The Ministry for the Environment’s Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance 2024, is a tool to help decision makers consider the potential effects of climate change, now and in the future, based on the latest scientific information. This includes a 10-step process to assess the risks and determine what actions to take, structured around 5 main topics:
by developing an understanding of sea level rise and coastal hazards in our district.
by identifying areas, objects or experiences that we value that may be impacted and assess their risk and vulnerability.
by identifying and evaluating options to enable adaptation.
Coastal Management Options – Summary of Community Feedback (March 2022) (pdf 757 KB)
Future work will be delivered through targeted community adaptation planning and will consider specific options at the local level around Tasman, and their respective costs, benefits, and potential adverse effects - as well as a process to learn community preferences. Long-term adaptation planning work will take several years to complete and the community conversation will be ongoing.
Read more about Adapting to Natural Hazards and Climate Change.
which will be implemented through a number of work programmes including environmental policy, infrastructure and reserves asset management planning, and to help inform emergency management.
by monitoring and regular review of the strategy.
Source: Ministry for the Environment. 2024. Coastal hazards and climate change guidance. Wellington: Ministry for the Environment.
Our mapped sea level rise elevations information is based on the Ministry for the Environment’s Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance (2024 guidance), in conjunction with the NZ SeaRise: Te Tai Pari O Aotearoa programme .
The NZ SeaRise online platform outlines when specific sea level rise increments (in metres above 1995-2014 baseline) could be reached for various projection scenarios of sea level rise for New Zealand, including specific data for Tasman. For example, we may expect up to 1.66m or 1.67m sea level rise in our district by the year 2130 (under SSP5-8.5 H+ scenario).
IPCC’s five shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) each present a different scenario of how future societal choices, demographics, and economics will influence greenhouse gas emissions. For adaptation planning the 2024 Guidance recommends considering five representative sea level rise projections, derived from four SSP scenarios. The lower scenario (SSP1-2.6M) represents the rise in sea level if the Paris Agreement was achieved, namely to keep the global average temperature well below 2° C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5° C. The upper scenario (SSP5-8.5 H+) represents continuing high emissions and no effective emissions mitigation, plus runaway instabilities in polar ice sheet melting. The other three scenarios (SSP5-8.5M, SSP3-7.0M, and SSP2-4.5M) are in between those two different futures.
See the NZ SeaRise online platform for location specific sea-level rise projections (including vertical land movement) out to the year 2300 for every 2 km of the coast of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Scientists advise that sea levels will continue to rise and that levels are likely to rise at an accelerated rate over time, meaning changes could happen sooner than predicted. We don’t know exactly when each increment will occur, but our mapping helps to identify where sea level rise may impact low lying land.
While there is much uncertainty around the rate and magnitude of sea level rise, we do know that rising sea levels will have increasing implications for development and infrastructure in coastal areas along with environmental, cultural and societal effects. Therefore, regardless of this uncertainty we need to be proactive in our long-term adaptive planning for sea level rise to ensure our communities are resilient. The decisions we make today will affect our children, grandchildren and future communities.
Broadly speaking, the warmer the climate becomes, the faster sea levels will rise.
Coastal Management Options
