Risks to low-lying South Dunedin revealed in sea-level rise maps

Monday, 3 April 2017

Areas of South Dunedin will be flooded, as seen in blue, in a sea-level rise scenario.

Digital maps have revealed the impacts of sea-level rise and flooding on South Dunedin.

The low-lying area was hit by flooding on June 3 2015, and later that year Environment Commissioner Dr Jan Wright released a report noting that in Dunedin there were more homes less than 50 centimetres above the high tide mark than any other New Zealand city.

Flood waters burst up through tar seal in Dunedin.

Now new research from the University of Otago's Centre for Sustainability has compiled a multi-layered database with superimposed maps.

That information reveals more about the at-risk part of South Dunedin, including flood hazards, modelled water ponding under different scenarios, house ages and demographic details.

Ponding on Forbury Park in Dunedin following the 2015 South Dunedin floods.

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Summer scholarship student Leigh McKenzie, who compiled the database, said the maps showed the biggest area that is less than one metre above sea-level was around St Kilda East, with areas most prone to ponding in the Forbury and St Kilda West areas.

'There are a number of schools and rest homes in these areas, so immediately you start to think about the impacts on young and old,' she said.

Centre Director Dr Janet Stephenson said the centre was keen to pursue the work after it was raised by Wright.

'The spatial database is an important step because it brings together information from many different agencies and holds it all in one place.'

Questions about how much sea levels may rise and how soon were important, she said.

'But it shouldn't overshadow the human side of the question, which is, 'who may be affected and how should we respond?' '

The database was a collaboration between the University of Otago, the Dunedin City Council, and the Otago Regional Council.