Past Events

Join the Rivers Managers Forum and the Rivers Groups for a three-part webinar series on river legislation.

Part 3 | Legislation and policy statements relating to rivers

Presented by Mike Doesburg

Mike will address the regulatory framework relevant to river management, including the Resource Management Act 1991, the various higher order policy instruments including the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater and the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, and the management of activities in and around rivers through regional and district plans.

The session will be a whistlestop tour through the relevant documents, but will leave attendees with an understanding of key issues for river management

Join the Rivers Managers Forum and the Rivers Groups for a three-part webinar series on river legislation.

Part 2 | Understanding local government law relevant to flood control and drainage maintenance activities

Presented by Imogen Edwards and Mike Doesburg

Building on the material covered in the first session, the second session will address the various regulatory organisations and instruments in the flood control and drainage space, including drainage boards and relevant bylaws (and their place in the future of flood control and drainage issues). The session will cover common pitfalls when navigating this complex area of law and policy.

Join the Rivers Managers Forum and the Rivers Groups for a three-part webinar series on river legislation.

Part 1 | Understanding local government law relevant to flood control and drainage maintenance activities

Presented by Imogen Edwards and Mike Doesburg

This first session will provide historic context and introduce the relevant legislation that regulates flood control works and drainage maintenance activities.

Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of the key parts of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941, the Land Drainage Act 1908, the Public Works Act 1981 and the Local Government Act 2002, and the overlap in responsibilities between district and regional councils.

Join the Rivers Group and Rivers Managers Forum for the fourth webinar of their Cultural and Environmental Values series with Julian Williams.

Cultural and Environmental Values Series | Mana Whenua Statements (cultural impact assessment)

Presented by Julian Williams

Learn how to demonstrate Kaitiaki obligations to Te Ao Māori and achieve genuine engagement. You will learn about Mana Whenua Statements also known as cultural impact assessments which provide Mana Whenua decisions against the proposal or policy to decision makers.

An understanding of these is fundamental for involvement in developing today’s river management including for research, planning, consultation and operation activities. 

River processes and solutions for river management

New Zealand river managers and engineers are tasked with working in some of the most dynamic river systems in the world. Sudden and rapid changes in these channels can render control and modification structures redundant, threaten their integrity, or undo months of river control work.

In this workshop we will introduce the key processes driving river behaviour in New Zealand. Our premise is that understanding these processes is key to working with them, rather than against them. In turn, working with the dynamics of the river is critical for effective and sustainable river management, to reduce the risks of failure and loss of infrastructure and capital, and even improve the aesthetics and habitat of managed river reaches.

We invite participants to discuss particular issues and sites that they may be working with currently or expect to engage with in the future, to connect our theory with your practice. Problem-cases in particular are welcome to discuss in BYO case study sessions. A full afternoon will be devoted to these discussions and sharing of practice, problems and solutions – the floor will be yours.

The workshop is facilitated by Professors Ian Fuller & Russell Death, Innovative River Solutions Group, School of Agriculture & Environment.

Enquiries to Prof. Ian Fuller: i.c.fuller@massey.ac.nz

Venue: Massey University campus, Palmerston North

Cost: $1250, covering lunches, morning & afternoon teas, tuition, resources, attendance certificate

Registration: www.massey.ac.nz/river-practitioners

Registration to close: 23 August 2022, or when limit of 30 participants reached.

Further details to follow shortly

Join the Rivers Group and Thomas Kay, Policy Advisor at Kāhu Environmental, for a presentation on assessing and maintaining river habitat quality and natural character: application and policy

River processes and solutions for river management

15 – 16 June 2021

Massey University, Palmerston North

New Zealand river managers and engineers are tasked with working in some of the most dynamic river systems in the world. Sudden and rapid changes in these channels can render control and modification structures redundant, threaten their integrity, or undo months of river control work.

In this workshop we will introduce the key processes driving river behaviour in New Zealand. Our premise is that understanding these processes is key to working with them, rather than against them.

The workshop is facilitated by Professors Ian Fuller & Russell Death, Innovative River Solutions Group, School of Agriculture & Environment.
Enquiries to Prof. Ian Fuller: i.c.fuller@massey.ac.nz
Venue: Massey University campus, Palmerston North
Cost: $1250, covering lunches, morning & afternoon teas, tuition, resources, attendance certificate

Registration to close: 7 June 2021, or when limit of 30 participants reached.

In their natural form, rivers are resilient, and as ‘messy’ rivers they are usually able to absorb and respond dynamically to a natural range of floods without changing form. However, this resilience is arguably under threat. Firstly, managed channels are often designed to resist change, which renders them potentially more vulnerable to disturbance by large floods that exceed design capacity. Secondly, predicted climate change is likely to see a phase-shift (upwards) in flood magnitude and frequency. Do New Zealand’s rivers have the capacity to adjust to forecast changes in flood magnitude and frequency: are they resilient in the face of predicted rapid global change?

To answer this question this webinar follows two threads. Firstly, we need to understand the scale of modification that has taken place in our river systems in recent decades, which we can achieve using an index of change (Natural Character Index), comparing what is observed today (post-management) with what might be expected (pre-management). Secondly, we need to understand the potential phase-shift in flood magnitude and frequency: how big will floods become? A palaeoflood archive is presented from the Whanganui River, which reveals a connection between very large floods and the El Nino Southern Oscillation signal in New Zealand. The potential impact of large storms on river channels can be devastating, exceeding even the natural capacity to adjust without changing form when tipping points are crossed. The prospect for significant future change in New Zealand’s riverscapes must be taken seriously by society. This paper argues there is a pressing need to make room for the river and manage for (much) bigger floods.

Ian is Professor in Physical Geography at Massey University in Palmerston North, where he co-directs the Innovative River Solutions group and has been based since 2003. His research in fluvial geomorphology provides an integrated understanding of river systems at multiple spatial and temporal scales. He has completed numerous projects for stakeholders in river management and worked in catchments throughout New Zealand, as well as the UK and Europe. Prior to arriving in New Zealand, Ian completed his PhD at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1996, which was followed by a lectureship in Physical Geography at Northumbria University. He is passionate about educating students in NZ’s rivers and linking geomorphology with river management.