Welcome to the Rivers Group website
Welcome to the Engineering New Zealand/Water NZ Rivers Group! We are a technical interest group for people who are passionate about the successful management of river systems across New Zealand. Our members include engineers, geomorphologists, hydrologists, ecologists, scientists, planners, managers and others who want to work together to create and manage river systems that future generations can be proud of. This is an incredibly complex challenge that often involves balancing competing interests and demands to achieve outcomes that will have lasting effects that shape the way we live.
I’d encourage you explore the website and get along to the local events and the annual symposium to meet others that share your passion of rivers and to contribute to shaping best practice in NZ river management.
Heide Friedrich, Chair of the Rivers Group
Rivers Group and River Managers Forum
The Rivers Group and River Managers Forum recently held a joint Workshop in Whakatāne “Lessons learnt from the large flood events in the Bay of Plenty Region”. It was well attended by River Managers, land management officers, river engineers, river scientists, hydrologists, and specialists from all over the country. Hearing about the events leading up to some of the large floods and being put ‘inside the flood room’ was a fantastic experience for all of us, and hearing about what worked and what needed improvement provided us all with some learnings to take back to our respective places of work. It was also a fantastic experience to be walked through the independent review process and findings for the Edgecumbe and Ngongotaha flood events by Kyle Christensen. A big thank you to all those who attended, to the River Managers Forum, and Graeme Campbell, for seeding the idea for the workshop, and to Bay of Plenty Regional Council, especially Mark Townsend, for sharing their stories and experiences.
Congratulations to our photo competition winners
Well done to Joel Wallan, Jo Hoyle and Ashlee Lawrence for submitting fantastic photos securing them 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Check out the results and all of the submissions here: https://riversgroup.org.nz/events/photo-competition/
Here is our first place, Waimakariri Sunrise by Joel Wallan
Join the Rivers Group
Are you passionate about New Zealand rivers and their sustainable use and management?
Do you want to make a difference in NZ river and catchment management?
Then we want you, along with your opinions, intellect and camaraderie, to join the Rivers Group and participate in discussions, collegiality and technical knowledge sharing. If you are involved with rivers, catchment management or river engineering, the Rivers Group provides the opportunity you have been waiting for – to truly integrate all the different areas of river usage and management, and to bring practitioners and community interests together.
Whether you are an engineer, scientist, planner, academic, hydrologist, geomorphologist, climatologist, land manager or individual river enthusiast, membership is open to all.
New Funding Opportunities
The Engineering New Zealand Rivers Group Student Research Grant
Grants of up to $2,500 ($5,000 fund available in total) are available to postgraduate researchers working on issues related to rivers, flood risk management and the operational and environmental issues of catchments and river systems, depending on the merits of the project proposal and the level of competition in a given year.
Student Conference Travel Awards 2018 will be made on a first come, first served basis. Each award consists of up to $300 (total) reimbursement for registration, transport, and/or accommodation. To claim awards, awardees will need to submit receipts for verification to the Student Work Group Lead (w.conley@massey.ac.nz) following the conference.
