The Clutha Delta, including Balclutha, Kaitangata, Stirling and surrounding rural areas, face a range of natural hazards like flooding, coastal erosion and inundation, and earthquake related hazards.

Some of these hazards are being made worse by ongoing changes in the landscape and climate. 

In response to these challenges, the ORC has launched a Clutha Delta Natural Hazards Adaptation Programme. This programme is a long-term effort to understand natural hazard risks – both now and in the future and explore options with the community and stakeholders to ensure the long-term wellbeing and resilience of the people and places of the Clutha Delta. 

Natural hazards can have serious impacts on people’s homes, livelihoods, and ways of life. We can’t always prevent natural hazard impacts, but we can plan ahead and adapt – together. 

This programme intends to: 

• Understand natural hazard risks faced now and, in the future, 
• Work with partners and the community to understand local values, interests, and aspirations for the future  
• Collaborate with partners and the community to develop a strategy to manage and build resilience to long-term natural hazard risks. The strategy will provide a common direction for our natural hazards management and adaptation planning and decisions at the Clutha Delta. It will also support everyday decision making by individuals and the community. 

We’re in the early stages of the programme,   

• investigating the natural hazards in the area and  
• planning how we’ll work with the partners and the community throughout the process 

We’re working with Clutha District Council and Emergency Management Otago and are also planning to work closely with mana whenua and will collaborate with the community, with community feedback helping to shape decisions. 

We’re using a method called Adaptation Pathways – this is a flexible, step-by-step approach that helps councils and communities make decisions even when the future is uncertain. It’s already being used by the ORC in places like South Dunedin and the Head of Lake Whakatipu. 

This approach helps to: 

• Plan for different possible futures 
• Make decisions that can change as conditions change 
• Focus on long-term wellbeing, not just short-term fixes 

Community engagement is at the heart of the Adaptation Pathways method, and this programme. It enables ORC to centre local knowledge, values and hopes for the future in developing plans for the management of natural hazard and climate change risks. 

In the coming months, the ORC will begin community engagement to: 

• Share findings from natural hazard investigations and provide opportunities for the community to share feedback, questions and concerns   
• Learn about the community’s concerns, values, interests and aspirations for the area 
• Explore approaches to manage risk and protect what matters most 

• Hazard and risk assessments – aimed for completion by late 2026 
• Draft strategy – completion by mid-2027 
• Initial strategy – completion by early 2028