Adapting to coastal change at Carters Beach, New Zealand
- Author
- Allis, MJ; Hicks, DM
- Year
- 2019
- Journal / Source
- Coastal Sediments 2019
- Publisher / Organisation
- Proceedings of the 9th International Conference. International Conference on Coastal Sediments 2019, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, 27 – 31 May 2019
- Pages
- 1550-1561
- Summary
- The community of Carters Beach, New Zealand, has dealt with dramatic coastal changes since European settlement c1860 and is now facing beach retreat rates of ∼10 m/year (2003–present) which threaten community assets. In planning its response to the immediate threat, the community must also address the long-term threat that sea level rise poses to its low-lying village. The region is not well resourced so to intervene to meet a short-term objective could be an unjustified expense if long-term sea-level rise will overwhelm the area. We developed a high-level adaptative planning pathway for Carters Beach that addresses the changing risk levels and various response options across uncertain timeframes. The pathway allows the community to adapt to each threat without being locked into a set pathway whilst avoiding waiting too long to intervene or unnecessarily exposing the community to foreseeable risks.