Source: Environment Canterbury Regional Council
During a flood we:
- Have dedicated knowledgeable staff who actively manage the flood defence systems (such as stop banks and floodgates), make field observations and give advice on the performance of the assets protecting the community.
- Our technology measures and transmits rainfall and river level data in real-time.
- Stand up a 24/7 Flood Control team that monitors river levels to understand flows and share timely warnings and information during a weather event.
- Our team follows clear plans to respond to various conditions and works closely with partner agencies to give them the best information.
- Share what we know with the community through flood warnings, advisories, and continuous monitoring data on our website.
All of these actions work together to create a flood warning system, and we need to make sure this system is as robust as possible to help us inform and prepare communities across Waitaha.
To deliver this complex and critical programme of work, we have an experienced team focused on improving every part of the system – from site infrastructure and networks to data management and flood modelling.
What we’ve achieved so far
Here are just a few examples of what the team has been working on:
- Improved our flow forecasting models which predict river flow based on forecast rainfall.
- Expanded and improved the accuracy of flood inundation modelling across the region.
- Updated and expanded 24/7 roles to help protect communities by ensuring all parts of the flood warning system work together effectively.
- Since July, we have upgraded 23 sites and installed two new ones.
- Expanded and promoted our flood warning text service, which provides early warning alerts to people in high-risk flood areas to rising river flows.
- Checked priority sites to ensure equipment is working reliably.
- Flood room communications are being upgraded as part of ongoing improvements to deliver faster response times.
- Reviewed all issues with our sites and digital systems during flood events since 2020 and taken action to fix problems.
- Put in place a new process to be digitally ready ahead of events to ensure our website and digital systems can stay operational during high website traffic.
- Developed a diagnosis tool to continuously monitor the status of the network and rapidly pinpoint where issues are.
What’s next
As we move into the new year, our focus remains clear: build resilience through new equipment, clearer processes, better communication and more robust backend systems.
To do this we need to work with our local territorial authorities as well as other regional councils, science and engineering experts, local iwi and central government to make sure we have a system that meets the needs of all our communities. This will build collective resilience across Aotearoa and strengthen our system overall.
As we work to upgrade our system and service, we will continue to deliver timely, accurate, and actionable flood risk information to communities, helping people protect themselves and their whānau, property and livelihoods.
With extreme weather becoming more frequent, these upgrades are critical to keeping communities safe now and for the future.
LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/early-warning-enhancing-canterburys-flood-warning-system/