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This page provides updates on how the Strategy is being implemented and the progress made so far.
The implementation of the natural hazards adaptation strategy for the Head of Lake Whakatipu area began in June 2026 by the Strategy’s partners: Otago Regional Council (ORC), Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Otago as well as the community, individuals, private assets owners and business owners.
We will share progress with the community through several channels:
Over the past months, Strategy partners progressed several actions across governance, monitoring, emergency management and infrastructure resilience.
Key achievements include:
These activities contribute to improving the understanding, management and communication of natural hazard risks across the Head of the Lake area, and support the achievement of the Strategy’s goals.
The Strategy’s Action Plan focuses on six key areas:
The Action Plan lists all actions that will be implemented by the Strategy partners within the Strategy timeframe. It was updated in May 2026 with key progress update.
| Action | Agency responsible | Key progress to date (May 2026) and notes | Priority to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORC and QLDC collaborate to develop a governance framework or memorandum of understanding (MoU) for addressing adaptation issues at the Head of the Lake and/or across the district, including the implementation of adaptation actions to improve resilience. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) Queenstown Lakes District Council |
QLDC has drafted a Terms of Reference for a Queenstown Lakes Natural Hazards Steering Group. This group is expected to support coordination of adaptation work across the district, including actions that improve resilience in the Head of the Lake area. | Priority |
| ORC to partner with mana whenua to ensure mana whenua values and aspirations and mātauraka Kāi Tahu is embedded into decision-making and implementation of the Strategy, following the lead of Aukaha and Te Ao Mārama. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) Aukaha and Te Ao Mārama |
We work closely with Aukaha and Te Ao Mārama to ensure that mana whenua values and perspectives are embedded in decision-making within this Strategy. | Ongoing |
| Work together with QLDC, Otago CDEM, mana whenua and local community to ensure coordinated and consistent approach to implementation of actions aligning with this Strategy. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) Queenstown Lakes District Council Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago Aukaha and Te Ao Mārama Glenorchy Community Association |
ORC has been working with the Preserving Legacies project to support the development of a programme focused on community climate adaptation. This programme includes training on climate science, climate risk assessment for local communities, as well as adaptation strategies to help safeguard iconic landmarks and heritage sites. More information: https://www.heritageadapts.org/sites/tahuna-glenorchy. | Ongoing |
| Work together to mainstream adaptation across ORC work programmes and ensure our work aligns with this Strategy and towards achieving each goal. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards, Environmental Implementation, Engineering, Integrated Catchment Management) | This work is ongoing and is implemented by several ORC teams. | Priority |
| Action | Agency responsible | Key progress to date (March 2026) and notes | Priority to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORC to Investigate hazards and risks as part of usual business. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) | ORC’s Natural Hazards team is supporting a scholarship for a Master’s research project to further investigate Rees River avulsion hazards. The project is expected to commence in late 2026. | Not priority |
| Geomorphic change monitoring and assessment Maintain an awareness of locations and scale of geomorphic changes (e.g., active river channel position, bed levels and rates of change) which may have direct impacts or exacerbate natural hazard characteristics. Collect LiDAR, aerial imagery - spatial extent to include at least Dart, Rees, and Buckler (at least extent of 2019 survey). Cross section survey and/or bathymetric LiDAR. Undertake geomorphic change detection analysis. Notes: The monitoring is not restricted to the Head of Lake Whakatipu area and assessments may be at catchment scale, if appropriate. This information will: Enable proactive response to issues. Enable the updating of flood hazard assessments to ensure they provide representation of current conditions (e.g., bed levels). |
Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) with external support |
ORC has commissioned broad-scale LiDAR survey acquisition to bring region to 100% coverage. Capture will provide updated data for the Dart-Rees floodplain and Buckler Burn alluvial fan, and for the first time include coverage for the full Dart-Rees and Buckler Burn catchment areas. Further information: https://www.orc.govt.nz/your-council/latest-news/news/2025/december/mfe-contributes-12m-to-boost-orc-s-lidar-data-across-otago/. | Ongoing |
|
Data collection to document major flooding (or other hazard) events Develop an online data portal to enable collation of crowdsourced natural hazard event observations (e.g., photographs). |
Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) with external support |
Photographs taken by ORC’s Environmental Monitoring team during the October 2025 high-flow event (23/10/2025) provide a valuable dataset for ground-truthing flow patterns and pathways, useful for flood hazard and geomorphic assessment. This event caused the highest Rees River flow and Glenorchy Lagoon level measured since those monitoring stations have been in place (December 2021 and October 2021, respectively). | Ongoing |
| Monitoring and analysis of signals/triggers/thresholds SIGNALS – give us a heads up about changes Growth in costs to maintain and repair assets. Lower level of service (e.g., due to delta growth, riverbed aggradation, channel movement). Frequency, number or impacts of flooding events reaching nuisance level. Movement of active river channel towards high value areas and assets. Negative impacts on community wellbeing (e.g., concern and anxiety). Insurance affordability or coverage. TRIGGERS – points where review and decisions are made Decision-making cycles (3-year, 10-year, 30-year). Opportunities. Significant natural hazard event with unacceptable outcomes. THRESHOLDS – unacceptable conditions we are trying to avoid Extended disruption to road access from Queenstown. Frequent or severe damaging or disruptive events. Loss of amenity and cultural values. Lengthy displacement of people following extreme events. Withdrawal of maintenance, decline in levels of service. Unaffordable insurance premiums or withdrawal of insurance and bank finance. Other signals and triggers may be selected during implementation. |
Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) with input from Queenstown Lakes District Council and external support |
QLDC participated in a national working group developing climate scenarios for the local government sector and is now exploring how these scenarios can be applied locally to support decision-making and inform future planning processes such as the Long-Term Plan (LTP). Further information: https://www.lgfa.co.nz/sustainability/sustainability-lgfa/local-government-sector-scenarios). Updated LiDAR data expected in 2026 will enable improved change-detection analysis across the Dart and Rees River floodplains. | Ongoing |
| Communication and reporting of physical environment monitoring Data collection and analysis findings will be communicated to key project partners and stakeholders. A brief environmental monitoring update report will be prepared every 3 years summarising any notable natural hazards event/impacts. One-off standalone event reports may be prepared for any significant event – summarising causes, impacts, and ORC responses. Reports will be distributed to key contacts through existing channels (e.g., ORC e-newsletter, project website). |
Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) | This will be updated every three years, and a one-off report will be prepared for significant events. | Not priority |
| Action | Agency responsible | Key progress to date (March 2026) and notes | Priority to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Develop a long-term recovery plan for a potential major hazard event, including ways to minimise maladaptation post-event and ensure recovery considers long-term adaptation opportunities. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago Queenstown Lakes District Council |
This work is ongoing. | Ongoing |
| Operate a network of near real-time rainfall and water level stations across the region to support flood forecasting and emergency response with a 24/7 duty roster to support forecasting duties and any necessary response. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring) Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago |
This work is ongoing. | Priority |
| Monitor and ensure ORC’s network of environmental monitoring stations remains fit for purpose, providing information for flood response, for documentation of flood events, and for public awareness of river flow, lake, and lagoon levels. Review of performance of the flood forecasting systems (lake level and lagoon level forecasting). Review of hydrological monitoring network (any opportunities for improvement?). New/temporary monitoring in some circumstances (e.g., landslide dam formation). This action is intended to ensure the monitoring network and forecasting systems provide the most suitable coverage. |
Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards, Environmental Monitoring) | ORC continues to maintain a high-quality, fit-for-purpose network of near real-time rainfall and water level monitoring stations in the Glenorchy Area. Significant communication upgrades have been completed at two sites over the past six months: (1) the Glenorchy Lagoon monitoring site and (2) the Lake Wakatipu at Glenorchy Boat Ramp monitoring site. These upgrades enable both sites to operate using a low-orbit satellite system, enhancing the reliability and resilience of their communications. | Priority |
| Capability development and awareness raising Undertake public/internal education to develop knowledge and raise awareness of risks and natural hazards to communities and Community Response Group’s members. Share lessons learned from emergency response with communities. Introduced and organised training sessions for Community Response Group members on how to use Community Emergency Hub Guide. |
Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago | This work will be carried out annually or as needed. | Ongoing |
| Engagement with communities and stakeholders Communicate prior to forecast weather events to have a common understanding around Lake and Lagoon levels, river flows and potential outcomes of the forecast weather. Communicate with communities about changes in risk and readiness. Work with Community Response Group to coordinate emergency support before, during and after an emergency. Organised consultations with communities on emergency proposed plans and guidelines. Convene meetings with communities and stakeholders to decide a scale of an emergency event. |
Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago Community Response Group |
This work will be carried out annually or as needed. | Not priority |
| Risk communication and early warnings Provide right and trusted information about natural disasters to communities so that they can prepare effectively for emergency events. |
Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago Queenstown Lakes District Council |
The Glenorchy Community Resilience Group (CRG) was activated during the October 2025 high lake level event to support the community response. The CRG worked closely with Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago and the QLDC Emergency Operations Centre to prepare the community for the potential overtopping of the Glenorchy Lagoon floodbank during the October high lake level event. | Priority |
| Provide community resilience equipment Provide communications equipment to not only communicate locally but also communicate to the Emergency Operations Centre in Queenstown if BAU communications systems have failed. Provided equipment for communities to better prepare for emergency events: 4000W Petrol Inverter Generator Petrol Container Extension cords Multi boxes Rechargeable LED light 20Watt Work-lights Tripod LED light 60Watt Work-lights Handheld torches and spare batteries. |
Queenstown Lakes District Council Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago |
QLDC is investigating options for resilience investments for Glenorchy Community Hall and wharf to be included as part of planned repairs. | Ongoing |
| Develop and share emergency guides and plans and update annually Glenorchy Community Resilience Guide (draft in progress). Glenorchy Community Response Plan (draft in progress). Developed Glenorchy Flood Guide. Developed Community Emergency Hub Guide. Developed Community Emergency Preparedness Brochure. |
Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago Community Response Group |
The update of plans will be carried out annually or as needed. | Not priority |
| Training and exercises for Community Response Group and Emergency Hub implementation Provided training to help Community Response Group set up Emergency hubs, operate radios, and for community response planning. Exercise the implementation of the Community Emergency Hub to gain an understanding of expectations of the community, emergency services and local government as well as clarify any ambiguity or operational expectations that may present during an actual emergency. |
Civil Defence Emergency Management Otago Community Response Group |
This will be carried out annually or as needed. | Not priority |
| Action | Agency responsible | Key progress to date (March 2026) and notes | Priority to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ensure the ORC Natural Hazards Portal includes up-to-date information on natural hazards and the impacts of climate change, to provide the community with a single location for information. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) | The ORC Natural Hazards Portal is updated regularly and can be accessed via our Maps and Data page. | Priority |
| Maintain ORC Head of Lake Whakatipu adaptation webpages with relevant and up-to-date information, including latest reports, Council updates and key programme milestones. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards and Communications) | The ORC Head of Lake Whakatipu Adaptation Programme webpage is updated regularly and can be accessed on the dedicated Head of Lake Whakatipu page. | Priority |
| Provide newsletter updates about programme milestones and/or progress towards actions to inform community members and be accountable to the Strategy. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards and Communications) | The newsletter is published every six months. Subscribe or read the latest issue on the Get involved page. | Priority |
| ORC to attend Glenorchy Community Association (GCA) meetings as and when required, at least annually, to provide updates about programme milestones and progress towards actions and act as a check-in with the community. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) | This will be carried out annually or as required. The next meeting with the Glenorchy Community Association (GCA) is likely to take place in April 2026. | Priority |
| Ensure that ORC’s messaging about natural hazards adaptation and adaptation workstreams is communicated in a way that is understood by a wide audience. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards and Communications) | This is ongoing work. | Ongoing |
| Monitor the headofthelake@orc.govt.nz inbox for public enquiries and information relating to the programme. Consider other methods and tools for capturing community feedback. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) | ORC now uses both email addresses: headofthelake@orc.govt.nz and customerservices@orc.govt.nz to receive feedback from the community on the Strategy. Feedback can be provided via these emails. | Ongoing |
| Action | Agency responsible | Key progress to date (March 2026) and notes | Priority to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consider natural hazard property information for resource and building consents. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | The Local Government (Natural Hazard Information in Land Information Memoranda) Regulations 2025 were updated in July 2025. | Not priority |
| ORC and QLDC to collaborate to ensure common adaptation priorities, information and actions identified in this Strategy inform and input into the next ORC and QLDC Long-Term Plan, Spatial Plan, District Plan and other relevant policies and plans. | Otago Regional Council Queenstown Lakes District Council |
QLDC is determining how the climate scenarios for the local government sector can be tailored to the district to support decision-making and provide input into the Long-Term Planning (LTP) process. | Priority |
| Natural hazard information is included on LIM reports. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | Natural hazard property information is already included in Land Information Memoranda (LIM). Any new hazard information will be provided in accordance with the Local Government (Natural Hazard Information in Land Information Memoranda) Regulations 2025. | Not priority |
| ORC and QLDC to collaborate on path forward for assessing risk tolerance with the community (once the proposed RPS is operative). | Otago Regional Council Queenstown Lakes District Council |
This work will be undertaken once the proposed RPS becomes operative. | Priority |
| Action | Agency responsible | Key progress to date (March 2026) and notes | Priority to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Routine maintenance of transport network, including QLDC roading assets, Glenorchy jetty and marina. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | Gravel extraction beneath the Rees Bridge has been completed and repairs made to the bridge piers. QLDC is investigating resilience investment options for the Glenorchy Wharf. | Priority |
| Glenorchy Area Bridge Resilience (24-34 LTP): Non-routine work required to protect the serviceability of the Glenorchy, Paradise, Rees River bridge assets following damage, and to minimise threat of road closure due to natural phenomena. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | The Shepherds Creek Hut culvert bridge replacement project has progressed to the next design phase. | Priority |
| Raising Kinloch Road (24-34 LTP): Raising Kinloch Road in conjunction with two-yearly gravel extraction under the Rees River bridge. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | Work has been undertaken on Kinloch Road to raise the profile and armour banks, including installing a series of groynes. Scheduled gravel extraction under the Rees Bridge has been completed. | Priority |
| Develop a River Morphology and Riparian Management Plan | Otago Regional Council (Engineering and Natural Hazards) | This plan will be developed in 2026 and reviewed every two years. | Not priority |
| Develop an Erosion Management Plan for Buckler Burn | Otago Regional Council (Engineering and Natural Hazards) | This plan will be developed in 2026 and reviewed every two years. Buckler Burn – Channel reshaping will be implemented in 2025. | Not priority |
| Annual vegetation management, rock armouring and gravel management. Ongoing river management activities such as regular vegetation control in Lagoon Creek/Lagoon area. | Otago Regional Council (Engineering) | This is ongoing work. | Ongoing |
| Maintenance of Rees River floodbanks. Maintain (not renew or increase) the existing banks – Rees River floodbanks are not owned by ORC. | Otago Regional Council (Engineering and Natural Hazards) | This is carried out annually. | Not priority |
| Floodplain and rivers. Create/trial NBS groynes. | Otago Regional Council (Engineering and Natural Hazards) | This is carried out every 2 years. | Not priority |
| Glenorchy Adaptation Pathways (30 Yr Infrastructure strategy): Work on Social Infrastructure required to address selected adaptation pathways, as budgeted in the QLDC 30-year Infrastructure Strategy. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | 2034–2054. This action is expected to commence in 2034, although the timeframe will be reviewed as part of the next Long-Term Plan (2027–2037). | Not priority |
| Provide information and support property owners to undertake property-level interventions to improve their resilience to natural hazards risks. | Otago Regional Council (Natural Hazards) | This will be carried out when information becomes available. | Priority |
| Head of the Lake Adaptation (24-34 LTP): Strategy to inform responses to identified hazards, providing scoped and costed solutions for input to the next LTP (27-37) and other key planning documents. | Queenstown Lakes District Council | Work has begun on the Lower Rees River and Glenorchy Flood Resilience Design Project. A project manager and designer have been appointed, and initial work is underway, including a gap analysis and planning review. The project scope includes concept design for flood resilience investments at Bible Stream, the Lake Wakatipu lakefront, and the Glenorchy water supply borefield, as well as preliminary to detailed design for improvements to the Lower Rees Lagoon floodbank. | Priority |
Everyone has a role to play in managing natural hazards and building resilience in the Head of the Lake area.
Community, individuals, private asset owners and business owners play an important role in this Strategy. This includes:
QLDC carries out their activities through plans such as Climate and Biodiversity Plan 2025-2028, Long-term Plan, Spatial Plan and District Plan. This includes:
ORC is responsible for:
CDEM Otago leads and coordinates the four Rs of emergency management:
Next steps
The first six-monthly progress update will be shared with you (via the Head of the Lake Programme webpage) in late December 2025. This will provide details on how these actions are tracking, along with other work from the Strategy’s Action Plan.
Your input is vital to keeping this Strategy relevant and effective. If you would like to ask a question or share an idea, you can: