River workshop tackles climate

The authority tasked with cleaning up the Waikato and Waipa¯ rivers is aiming to get a handle on how climate change will affect their mission.

Waikato River Authority chief executive Bob Penter said he expects the workshop to dig into what they could see over the next 20 to 60 years.

‘‘It’s hard to imagine climate change isn’t going to be a factor if we’ve got 70 years still to run on achieving the vision of a restored Waikato and Waipa¯ river catchment,’’ Penter said.

‘‘For us it raises questions around climate change resilience, adaptation and starting to at least consider what we might need to think about when making funding decisions for projects in the future to ensure they will endure if climate change is going to be a factor in their success.’’

He said the discussions should compliment the Waikato Regional Council’s plan change 1 as well as the Hamilton City Council’s policies around climate change.

‘‘For us, what we haven’t done is declare a climate change emergency or declare climate change urgency simply because in our case it would be largely full of symbolism and not really backed up by actions.’’

He said they had time to act, plan and adapt for the kind of actions that were necessary. The day-long workshop will take place on December 12 and is closed to the public because of logistical reasons.

Organisations presenting at the workshop include NIWA, Ministry of Primary Industries, and Waikato Regional Council.