| Abstrakt: |
As sea-level rises, infrastructure with a functional need to be near the coast will become increasingly exposed to coastal hazards and higher frequencies of storm-tide inundation. Managing this ongoing exposure is particularly relevant for gravity-fed wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) which service rural coastal communities. For these sites, and other infrastructure close to the coast, there are regular opportunities to reinject new hazard exposure information through the periodic renewal of planning permissions, cyclic infrastructure replacements and treatment process upgrades. However, these cycles are often focused on short-term options to direct immediate investment rather than working towards long-term strategic plans for the sites. This contribution covers the coastal hazards exposure assessment and long-term adaptation advice prepared for the Katikati WWTP near Tauranga, New Zealand. The coastal inundation assessment evaluates risks for the present site (e.g. access, operability, compliance) and when these may be affected by future coastal inundation. High level options to manage to the coastal risks were provided within the categories of Protect (e.g. construction of coastal defences), Accommodate (e.g. improving existing facilities to accommodate higher flood levels, and increasing land/asset elevation), Retreat (e.g. long-term master planning) and Avoid (e.g. avoiding new investment in low-lying at-risk areas). This contribution discusses the implications of the assessment and provide insights to long-term strategic planning inputs at the site. It is suggested that adaptive management should be implemented based on the approximate timing of long-term sea-level rise as the main hazard driver. Regular renewal cycles are needed to develop short-term options, but how these contribute to a long-term site strategy should be clear. Finally, introducing a perspective beyond 100-years is important because of the slower 'locked in' uptake of global emissions and the importance of these assets over the very-long term to coastal community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
