tohoku tsunami: understanding the human elements of a coastal disaster

ISSN 1172-6938

Issue 49 • March 2012

www.coastalsociety.org.nz

CONTENTS1 Ports of Auckland –

Fergusson DeepeningProject

2 NZCS Conference

3 Tohuku Tsunami

5 Undaria Farming

6 Floating VegetatedIslands – CombatingStormwater Pollution

7 Coastal Planning andDevelopment Forum

8 Waikato University’sCoastal Marine FieldStation

9 Rena Update

10 Word from the Chair

10 Management CommitteeMembers – ChristopherGomez and Jose Borrero

11 Queensland CoastalPlanning

11 NZCS 2011 ScholarshipWinners

12 News from the Regions

13 Oil and Gas Explorationin the News

14 TASCAM

15 Coastal News Update

15 NZCS RegionalCoordinators andManagement Committee

16 Corporate Members

16 Disclaimer

Te Hunga Takutai o Aotearoa

Fergusson Container Terminal is the centrepieceof Ports of Auckland (POAL). The 32-ha facility isNew Zealand’s largest container terminal andfeatures five ship-to-shore cranes that can servicePost Panamex vessels (ships larger than thosethat can travel through the Panama Canal) on650 m of berth.

POAL obtained a resource consent in 2009 forworks to deepen the outer berth (FZ berth) atFergusson from -12.2 m to -15.5 m below chartdatum. POAL is undertaking the work in stages,with works currently underway to deepen the berthto -13.5 m below chart datum.

POAL Civil Engineer Alistair Kirk says, “There aretwo distinct parts to the Fergusson Deepeningproject: 1) lengthening the berth by constructinga new mooring dolphin, and 2) deepening theberth. The new mooring dolphin was constructedby Brian Perry Civil and the deepening work, whichis about 70 per cent complete and is expected tobe finished by mid 2012, is being undertaken byHeron Construction.”

Completed in December 2011, the new mooringdolphin extends the berth to over 650 m. Thisextension will allow POAL to simultaneously worktwo 4100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) vesselsat the berth or to work one 5500 TEU vessel. Justto put ship size in perspective, ships are nowbeing built that are 18,000 TEU. While New Zealand

Ports of Auckland – FergussonDeepening Project

by Shelly Biswell, Editor

is not expected to be a port of call for these giantsof the sea, in an increasingly globalised economyPOAL does need the ability to cater to largervessels than ever before.

Alistair says both parts of the project have hadunique challenges, including when the work canactually be carried out.

“Deepening work has to be undertaken aroundtide windows and busy shipping schedules.”

Auckland is known for its large tidal range, whichis great for business since it allows larger vesselsto access the port during high tide. For deepening,however, high tides can push the limits of thedredging equipment reach.

“It was important to keep the berth operationalfor shipping, which limited the windows ofopportunity for the contractor to work on the site.POAL was keen to avoid downtime costs, andgetting Heron involved in a routine maintenancedredging contract within the port, achieved this,”Alistair says.

Deepening the berth

To say that berth deepening is not a conventionalproject is an understatement. Nearly every aspectof the project has demanded specialised technicalsolutions.

“For starters,” says Alistair, “as the actual worktakes place at a depth of 12 m to 15 m under

Photo: Ports of Auckland.

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Coastal News No. 492

water, divers are the ‘eyes’ of the project. Thatmeans the divers need to be able to convey exactlywhat’s happening below to the engineers.”

Beyond that, before deepening work could evenbegin, the existing rock bund (the batter slopebeneath the wharf ) needed to be reinforced. Thefirst step was to use high-pressure air hoses toflush out marine sediment from the rock riprap.The divers then grouted the voids in the riprap to

Container trade volumes by thenumbers

Between 1989 and 2007, Ports of Aucklandrecorded an average growth rate in containervolumes of 7 per cent. In 2007/08, the volumeincrease was 8.8 per cent, to 840,993 TEU. In2008/09 volumes reached 843,590 TEU.

Despite the economic downturn across theworld, 2009/10 saw volumes increase to 867,368TEU. In 2010/11 volumes increased to 894,383TEU.

The Fergusson Deepening project will deepen the

berth from -12.5 m to -13.5 m at lowest of low

tides. Photo: Ports of Auckland.

stabilise the rock ahead of toe removal. The nextstep was to dredge a 3-m deep trench along thetoe, in a hit and miss fashion (6-m long segmentsat a time), and backfill the segments with mudcrete(a mixture of mud and concrete). Once cured, themudcrete acts as a mass block retaining wall tosupport the bund toe when the berth is deepened.

“With the stabilisation work completed, we arenow beginning the actual deepening,” says Alistair.

The Kimahia, a back hoe dredger that can dredgeto depths of 17 m, is being used to deepen theberth from -12.5 m to -13.5 m at lowest of lowtides.

Planning for the future

Plans for the container terminal extension weretabled in 1989, when the Port Company, the AucklandRegional Authority, and the Auckland City Councilagreed on the original 1989 Port Development

Plan. POAL then obtained consent for 9 ha ofreclamation to expand landside capacity at FergussonTerminal. Since then, POAL has completed over6 ha of the reclamation. The project was a finalistin the Transport Infrastructure category of the 2009New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards.

The latest work at Fergusson Container Terminalrepresents the next step for meeting the growingneeds of the POAL.

Alistair says, “The current project is seen as anintermediate step for preparing Ports of Aucklandfor future use. Under our resource consent we candeepen the berth to a depth of -15.5 m below chartdatum, but that will only be done if there is aneconomic imperative to do so and it would helpmeet New Zealand’s port needs.”

Deepening the outer berth at Fergusson Container

Terminal. Photo: Ports of Auckland.

Planning is underway for the NZCS conferencein Auckland. Tentative dates are from 14 to 16November 2012. A suitable venue is still beingconfirmed. While the conference theme is yet tobe finalised, being the 20th anniversary of theNZCS there will be an opportunity to reflect onchanges in coastal management over the past20 years and look forward to how things may

NZCS Conferencechange over the next 20 years.This is particularlyrelevant in Auckland where the population, andtherefore pressures on many finite coastalresources, is increasing at twice the nationalrate.

Auckland’s population is currently at 1.5 millionand is expected to be around 2 million by 2032.

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March 2012 3

Figure 2: Tsunami inundation and sediments turned

rice-fields into sterile land. Remediation workers

are attempting to remove these deposits from each

field in an area extending 4 km from the coast near

Sendai City. In the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima

prefectures 20,000 ha of agricultural land have

been contaminated by seawater (Dec. 2011).

Photo: C Gomez.

Figure 1: Cliff section eroded by the tsunami. The

cliff stands over 7 m at the highest point shown

and 4 m in the gap (Dec. 2011). Photo: C Gomez.

This report describes field evidence from a

devastating near-field tsunami and asks what are

the implications for preparedness in New Zealand

and elsewhere?

On the afternoon of 11 March 2011, a Mw 9.0undersea megathrust earthquake 70-km offshorefrom northeast Japan displaced the ocean floor,sending tsunami waves west towards Japan andout east across the Pacific to South America, NewZealand, and Antarctica. Waves at 0.5 m in heightarrived on our shores within 15 hours, creatingvisible sediment plumes (see Daykin and Robinson,Coastal News 47 for effects in Napier).

This earthquake, known as the ‘Tohoku Earthquake’,was the largest ever in Japan and the fifth largestsince 1900. Resulting tsunami run-up reached over29 m above sea level along the Miyako City coast(Gomez and Wassmer, in preparation); elevationscomparable to those from the 2004 Boxing Daytsunami in Sumatra (Gomez and Wassmer, 2011).Waves travelled 10 km inland in Sendai Province,inundating 560 km2 in all. Human deaths have beenestimated at 15,880, with a further 3800 missing.The very high toll has to be linked to a number ofphysical, built-environment and human-culturalfactors. Here we provide evidence of this based ona month-long investigation in Sendai Province inDecember 2011 and make comparisons with thestate of New Zealand’s tsunami preparations.

Coastal area damage

The combined Tohoku event has been describedby the World Bank as the most expensive disasterin history, even excluding the 30-km damage radiusaround the Fukushima Power Plant. The JapaneseFire and Disaster Management Agency reports thatover 720,000 buildings were impacted: 109,862destroyed, 127,100 partially destroyed, and morethan 480,270 severely damaged. The unexpectedinland reach of waves hampered evacuation andinundated over 100 officially designated tsunamievacuation centres.

Field observations revealed the tremendous waveenergy, which moved 2-m high boulders anddestroyed vulnerable cliffs (Figure 1). Salt-ladenwater and sediment was carried 4 km overland atSendai City and even further up rivers, killingvegetation and crops in its path (Figure 2). Estuariesand streams were eroded and denuded of vegetation.River flood banks channelled tsunami flows furtherupstream: we found 60-cm thick tsunami depositson river banks and within stop-banks 5.4 kmupstream of the coast.

Tohoku Tsunami: Understanding theHuman Elements of a Coastal Disaster

by Christopher Gomez1*, Deirdre E Hart1 and Patrick Wassmer2

1Department of Geography, University of Canterbury; 2Laboratoire de GéographiePhysique, Université de Paris I Sorbonne. *Correspondence to:

[email protected]

Inappropriate ‘protection’

Like New Zealand, Japan is a mountainous, islandnation: 71 per cent comprises steep topography.Accordingly, 75 per cent of the country’s assets andhalf its population are based on the limited coastalplains (Kokusai Kogyo Group, 2011). These areasare prone to numerous hazards, including tsunamis,storm surges, typhoons and arashi (strong windand rain), explaining why Japan is famous for itsextensive engineered protection works. Coastaldefences include ubiquitous jetties, groynes,submerged offshore breakwaters and harbourssheltered by large seawalls. Elevated roads, up toa few kilometres inland, function as coastal stop-banks and evacuation routes.

Most Japanese tsunami defences were designedbased on the characteristics of the Meiji Sanrikutsunami, generated by a Mw 7.2 earthquake in

CoastalNews


Figure 3: Failed breakwater in the harbour of

Minami-Sanriku City (Dec. 2011). Photo: C Gomez.

Figure 4: Concrete slabs and foundation walls are

the only remnants of most timber-framed buildings

that were in the tsunami’s path. Before being

swept away, the timber frame was anchored to a

concrete base using the steel bolts visible in this

picture as protruding black sticks (Dec. 2011).

Photo: C Gomez.

Figure 5: Former train track and bridge between

Rikuzentakata and Minami-Sanriku, destroyed by

the tsunami. To the right: debris deposits have

filled low-lying areas in front of the raised train

line, with only the tips of remaining structures now

visible (Dec. 2011). Photo: C Gomez.

1896, that killed 22,000 people. The Meiji Sanrikuwaves are considered to have been lower amplitudethan those of March 2011.

Widespread failure of the hard-engineered coastalprotection structures resulted in 2011 (Figure 3).This event illustrates the tragic result of a disaster-development cycle, where extensive coastaldevelopment occurred in areas thought to beprotected by ‘tsunami-proof’ structures. It suggeststhat it is near-impossible to design hard structuresto withstand extreme tsunamis and that design/eventmismatches magnify impacts.

Soft-engineered defences were also destroyed alongthe Japanese coast, as in the aftermath of the 2004tsunami in Sumatra. Coastal forests were flattened,trees uprooted and transported, with this debrisenhancing the tsunami destruction. Observationsfrom India and Thailand in 2004 indicate coastalforest cover as well as vegetated dunes and coralreefs can help to reduce tsunami damage byreducing wave energy via friction and, thus, theinundation extent. Our observations from bothSumatra and Japan add another layer of complexityto the understanding of tsunami/surface-coverinteractions, suggesting that, at the extreme endof tsunami power, erodible covers can exacerbatedamage by supplying mechanically abrasive andimpact-enhancing debris.

Disastrous construction materials andinfrastructure impacts

The extreme tsunami waves did not determine theensuing disaster scale alone. The location andnature of the infrastructure and buildings playeda very significant role in determining the impacts.In areas affected by the waves, 15 to 60 per centof residential buildings were timber framed, 5 to25 per cent were made of reinforced concrete andusually less than 10 per cent made of steel. Thepredominance of flexible, light timber structureswas historically due to their ability to surviveearthquakes but these buildings were easily sweptaway by the tsunami waves (Figure 4).

Transport infrastructure was heavily impacted,creating domino effects across Japan. The affectedcities of Sendai, Miyako, Kamaishi, Oofunato andIshinomaki contained Japan’s major northern ports,critical nodes in the import/export and passengernetworks. Resulting economic impacts have been

severe. At the local scale, the loss of sea transporthas slowed recovery. Immediately after the tsunami3200 people wanting to return to the mainlandfrom Oshima Island had to wait for space in a12-passenger boat, the only surviving ferry. Over2000 fishing boats were also lost.

Conclusions and New Zealandimplications

The March 2011 event is described as the mostdestructive tsunami in Japanese history. In thistechnologically advanced county, where tsunamirisk management is a top government priority, anumber of well-intentioned human factors helpedcreate the catastrophe. One key factor, reliance oncoastal structures designed to withstand the largestprevious tsunami, and the subsequent failure ofthese structures, led to damage beyond the worstpredictions.

The Tohoku event illustrates in typical development-disaster cycle fashion (1) how difficult (impossible?)it is to hazard-proof coasts from extreme eventsusing hard structures; (2) how the construction ofprotection works can increase risk by encouraginghigh levels of coastal development; and (3) howstructures designed to protect can, in fact, creategreater impacts by channelling flows and enhancing

March 2012 5

CoastalNews

the reach of inundation, as well as in providingtsunami debris materials.

In light of this evidence, it could be argued thatmost coastal towns and cities in New Zealand arefortunate that our coastal hazard mitigation systemsare not heavily reliant on hard structures. Althoughthe potential role of the lower reaches of our riverstop-banks in an extreme tsunami is perhapsunrecognised.

Like Japan, New Zealand is a country comprisinga string of high islands perched atop the seismicallyactive Pacific Ring of Fire. A 2006 Statistics NewZealand report indicates that over 60 per cent ofour population lives within 5 km of the coast,that figure rising to over 70 per cent at 10 km.We are exposed to far-field tsunamis from acrossthe Pacific and near-field tsunamis from submarinelandslides and/or nearby earthquakes. The risk ofnear-field tsunamis is likely underestimated dueto a dearth of research quantifying the submarinedeposits of our extensive canyon head andcontinental shelf systems as well as that examiningoffshore faults.

If the recent Canterbury earthquakes, with predictedreturn periods of greater than 15,000 years, canteach us anything, it is that long-term planningsystems must take account of extreme naturalevents. The layer of understanding that the Tohokutsunami adds is that the way we respond as coastalpractitioners to the risk of such hazards candramatically shape resulting human outcomes.

References

Gomez, C., Wassmer, P. (in preparation). “FromNewtonian Flows to Debris-Flows: Tsunami FlowingCharacteristics”. Earth Surface Processes and

Landforms.

Gomez, C., Wassmer P. (2011). “A New Insight onthe 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in North Sumatrathrough the Analysis of Videos of the 2011 TohokuTsunami: Preliminary Results”. Vienna, Austria:European Geophysical Union General Assembly,2011.

Kokusai Kogyo Group, 2011. Great East Japan

Earthquake Archives. Retrieved at: http://www.kk-grp.jp/english/csr/disaster/201103_touhoku/data.html

In January, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry(MAF) announced three coastal areas (Wellington,Marlborough, Banks Peninsula) where the marinefarming of Undaria pinnatifida (Undaria) will beallowed subject to MAF and local council approval.

Accidentally introduced to New Zealand watersin the 1980s, Undaria is now found in NewZealand’s eastern and southern coastal watersfrom Auckland to Stewart Island, as well as theSnares, Fiordland and Chatham Islands. Undaria,a marine pest species, grows from the lowintertidal area to subtidal depths of around15 m. It grows on any hard surface includingshells, reefs, ropes, wharf piles, vessel hulls,moorings and other artificial structures.

Undaria is an unwanted organism under theBiosecurity Act 1993 and in May 2010 MAF revisedthe policy allowing for greater commercial useof Undaria that:

• allows farming in selected heavily infestedareas;

Three Areas Identified forUndaria Farming

• allows harvest when Undaria is growing onartificial surfaces (including marine farms);

• allows harvest when Undaria is cast ashorein selected areas not vulnerable or sensitiveto commercial harvest processes; and

• prohibits harvest when Undaria is growingon natural surfaces, except when part of aprogramme specifically designed to controlUndaria.

With the revised policy in place, MAF consultedwith iwi, technical experts, central and localgovernment, industry, and environmental groupsand identified three areas (Wellington,Marlborough, and Banks Peninsula) where it isbelieved Undaria can be farmed without increasingthe risk of new or greater infestation in otherareas.

For more information, see: www.aquaculture.govt.nzand www.biosecurity.govt.nz/biosec/pol/statements

NZCS Mission StatementThe New Zealand Coastal Society was inaugurated in 1992 “to promote and advance sustainable

management of the coastal environment”. The society provides a forum for those with a genuine interestin the coastal zone to communicate amongst themselves and with the public. The society currently has400 members, including representatives from a wide range of coastal science, engineering and planning

disciplines, employed in the engineering industry; local, regional and central government; researchcentres; and universities.

Applications for membership should be sent to NZCS AdministratorRenee Foster (email: [email protected]).

CoastalNews


Forty kilometres north of Auckland, along NZTA’sState Highway 1, researchers are monitoring anartificial ‘island’ in the middle of a stormwatertreatment pond as a potential solution to reducingpollutants found in stormwater runoff.

Designed and delivered by the Auckland MotorwayAlliance, University of Auckland, Auckland Council,and Kauri Park Nurseries, the floating island is ahydroponic system made of four layers of recycledplastic fizzy drink bottles with foam injected betweenthe layers to make the island float. The top layerof the island is covered by coconut coir whichprotects the plastic mat from UV degradation, inthe early stage, when plants don’t yet cover theentire island. The roots of the plants grow withinthe fibrous layers to reach the underneath of themat and hang in the water below.

The stormwater pond serves a 1.75-ha catchmentthat is mainly comprised of roadway. In fact, 75per cent of the catchment’s surface is impervious.The pond has been divided into two equal100 m2 parts. One part features the floating vegetatedisland and the other is a control.

A new area of research

University of Auckland Senior Lecturer ElizabethFassman says that floating wetlands are nowfrequently used in wastewater treatment ponds,but their use in stormwater ponds is relativelyuntried.

“This project is one of the first field-scale tests withthis type of application for floating islands. That’sin large part because of the dynamic nature ofstormwater ponds. Unlike wastewater treatmentponds, stormwater ponds have highly variable waterflows. Additionally, both the type and amount ofpollution that enters stormwater ponds can rapidlychange.”

Floating Vegetated Islands – CombatingStormwater Pollution

by Shelly Biswell, Editor

The project research team, led by PhD candidateKarine Borne, is already two years into the projectwith field research to be completed in 2012.

Elizabeth, who is Karine’s PhD supervisor, says thatKarine’s research is unique for a number of reasons:“While the islands ‘make sense’ from a managementperspective and are being considered in a numberof countries, no one has looked at the effect ofthe design parameters on the performance of avegetated island in a stormwater pond.”

For choosing plants for the island, the projectbuilds on previous lab-scale studies that AucklandCouncil and NIWA conducted to determine thepotential pollutant uptake for various plant species.In the end, the plant species selected for the projectwas the wetlands grass carex vigarta.

“We needed a hardy plant that had extensive rootsystems to assist in filtering pollution. We alsohad to look for relatively low-lying plants. Forexample, one of the plant species initially consideredhad to be rejected because due to its height andshape of its leaves the plant could literally act asa sail – not what you want on a floating structure,”Elizabeth says.

An environmental imperative

Urban stormwater pollution is a significantenvironmental problem across the Auckland region.“The development of sustainable and cost-effectivesolutions is a high priority for Auckland Council.The council is responsible for over 400 stormwatertreatment ponds, three of which already havefloating vegetated islands in them,” says GrantOckleston, Manager Auckland Council StormwaterUnit.

As part of its commitment to the promotion ofsustainable stormwater solutions, Auckland Councilwill be including a chapter on floating vegetated

Installation day with from left to right: Terry

Wearmouth (Kauri Park), Elizabeth Fassman (UoA),

Karine Borne (UoA), Fiona Lyttle (OPUS).

Photo: University of Auckland.

The floating vegetated island the day it was

installed (Dec 2010).


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March 2012 7

The Coastal Planning and Development Forumorganised by professional conference companyConferenz and supported by the New ZealandAssociation of Economists was held in Wellington,15 to 16 February 2012. The forum brought togetheran interesting mix of speakers ranging fromeconomist Basil Sharpe, to landscape architectJames Lundy, to developer Leigh Hopper, to RoydenSummerville QC.

An international element was added to the forumby a presentation on work being done in Tasmaniato address the potential future impacts of climatechange, an issue which is clearly taken far moreseriously and given greater attention there than itis here. But even so, the variation in the estimatesof sea-level rise being used in different states inAustralia was somewhat staggering (0.38 m to1.1 m). I was left feeling it was time for NewZealanders to be again reminded with simple mapsof the possible extent of sea-level flooding thatdifferent scenarios might result in for some of ourmore vulnerable coastal areas.

Coastal Planning and Development Forumby Hamish Rennie, Lincoln University

In a completely different vein, the strengthened rolethat iwi planning documents will have in coastalplanning was also apparent from a number ofspeakers.

Rob Makgill, the chair for both days, had difficultykeeping the enthusiasm of the speakers in check,but still managed to ensure enough time for questionsfrom the floor on most papers. A number of thosepresent were popping in and out to makepresentations at the simultaneous select committeehearings on the Exclusive Economic Zone andContinental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Bill andRob’s paper on this and the related discussion wasa highlight, matched perhaps by the rather startlingcomment by former Environment Court Judge andBoard of Inquiry Chair Shona Kenderdine that onepolicy in the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement

might be ultra vires!

Papers and presentations can be found at:www.conferenz.co.nz/conferences/coastal-planning-and-development-forum

islands in its updated best practice guidelines(GD01).

Results and future applications

While it’s still early days in the project, Elizabethsays that initial results are promising.

“The island appears to be effective at pollutantremoval with cleaner water on the island side ofthe pond. In fact, early results show statisticallysignificant differences on the two sides for zinc,copper, and sediment.”

Elizabeth says that while this project is mainlyfocused on whether the vegetated island will removeheavy metal pollutants like copper and zinc, in theUS and Canada researchers are currently studyingsimilar structures and their ability to removenutrients.

“Anecdotally, with this project we are seeing a

Researcher Karine Borne lifts a potted plant on the

vegetated island to check root development.


reduction in algal blooms in the island side of thepond. This may be an area where more research isrequired, particularly in light of the concern aroundexcess nutrients in coastal environments like theHauraki Gulf,” she says.

NZTA’s Auckland Motorway Alliance Stormwater AssetManager Peter Mitchell adds that the results of theresearch will assist the NZTA in making decisionson future stormwater pond maintenance andmanagement, as well as determining thewhole-of-life value and viability of using floatingislands as a water quality and environmentalimprovement technique.

“What we learn through this project and how weapply that information will contribute to an improvedenvironment – not just beside motorways but inour waterways and communities as well,” Petersays.

The stormwater pond after the floating vegetated

island had been in place for one year.


CoastalNews


Waikato University’s new coastal marine field stationis based at harbour’s edge adjacent to the SulphurPoint Marina in Tauranga. The field centre is hometo the University of Waikato Coastal Marine Groupmade up of staff and students who conduct researcharound the Bay of Plenty. Their focus is the coastalzone and adjacent estuarine shallow waters.

Professor Chris Battershill holds the inaugural Bayof Plenty Regional Council Chair in Coastal Scienceand heads this multidisciplinary group. Since startinghis position at the University of Waikato in 2011,Chris, an expert in marine diversity, has initiateda review of marine life in and around TaurangaHarbour and the wider Bay of Plenty, with a focuson the biogeography of organisms and how theymay adapt to environmental change.

“Waikato is one of the premier universities in NewZealand for multidisciplinary aquatic science andthe only university in the Southern Hemisphere tohave a working tertiary partnership amongst regionaltertiary education providers dedicated to enhancingopportunity for education and training across arange of social, economic, and scientific disciplines.A start-up focus has been on research associatedwith marine opportunities and issues,” Chris says.

“It's great for the students to have a dedicatedmarine lab to process their field work in. Due tothe nature of coastal work, quick access to a facilityfor sample work-up is paramount and now we alsohave a base where we can do useful work whenstudents’ research is hampered by bad weather.”

The Coastal Marine Group has more than 40 PhDand MSc students. It has relationships with iwigroups, Bay of Plenty and Waikato regional councils,Priority One, port companies, Ministry for theEnvironment, Department of Conservation, MAF,and other university coastal groups worldwide, sothe work they do extends well beyond the Bay ofPlenty.

Waikato University’s Coastal MarineField Station

by Alistair Gray, University of Waikato

The group is currentlyengaged in a numberof case studies in theTauranga Harbour, theAstrolabe Reef,Whitianga and as farafield as Dubai.

“We’re alwaysinterested in increasingour experience aroundcoastal processes sothat we can benefit ourunderstanding of NewZealand conditions and responses to climate changeand other impacts.

“A great thing about being based in Tauranga isthat we have access to all kinds of different habitattypes from sheltered estuaries to open islandsystems and even active volcanoes with submarinevents. On top of this there are significant marinereserves on our doorstep,” Chris says.

The Rena – tracking an environmentaldisaster

When the Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reeflast October, University of Waikato and Bay ofPlenty Polytechnic researchers, who are part of thetertiary partnership, were at the scene helpingcoordinate a fast response environmental programmeto provide advice on the quality of the environmentthat exists around the Rena shipwreck site andlikely impacts.

The work done created a baseline from which theeffects of the subsequent oil pollution could bemonitored and provided data to help estimate therecovery time.

Divers were sent out to the wreck to take videofootage, as well as survey and take samples fromthe marine environment near the reef. Sampleswere also taken from the oil slick and beaches onthe adjacent coast. The planning for this wasinformed by models of oil slick movement predictedby MetOcean Ltd for Maritime New Zealand in orderto track the progression of the oil as it made itsway towards the mainland shore.

Months later the longer-term effects of the oil arestill being investigated says Chris, with plans nowfor continued monitoring to check on the rate ofreturn to ‘normal’ conditions.

“The initial work carried out in the days after theRena grounding, and before any oil arrived onbeaches or rocky reefs, was built on a data setgoing back 20 years that was compiled by the Bayof Plenty Regional Council. It provides an

Waikato University’s coastal marine field station.

Photo: University of Waikato.

Chris Battershill. Photo:

University of Waikato.

CoastalNews

March 2012 9

unprecedented opportunity to track the effects ofan oil spill and the environmental recovery inresponse to clean-up activities,” he says.

“This is a rare circumstance globally – in mostother cases of oil pollution it has been difficult toquantify the extent of impact and even harder todetermine when the ecology will be back to normal.”

Chris says ongoing research would provide essentialknowledge in responding to the impacts and

determine how future marine disasters could bemanaged from an environmental perspective.

“Importantly, it will sharpen our ability to predictenvironmental effects and recovery.”

Waikato University Coastal Marine Group andpartnership students are currently investigatingrecovery time and process for the Tauranga Harbourand Bay of Plenty region following the spill.

In the early morning of 5 October 2011 the MVRena struck Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga andgrounded. In the ensuing months a dedicatedresponse team and thousands of volunteers havebeen involved in the clean-up and recovery.

Oil removal

The Rena had 1733 tonnes of oil when itgrounded. Fuel removal began on 9 October andmost of the remaining fuel was removed by 13November. After the removal of 10.3 cubic metresof fuel in late February, Maritime New Zealandestimated oil remaining on the vessel to still bein the tens of tonnes.

The total of oil and oily waste collected by oilspill response teams to date is 1041 tonnes.

Wildlife response

Nearly 2300 dead birds have been collectedduring the response. Over half of the dead birdswere oiled.

At the height of the Rena response over 400birds were being cared for at Te Maunga wildliferehabilitation centre. Seabirds cared for at thecentre included 345 little blue penguins, 60 NewZealand dotterels (that were pre-emptively caughtand cared for) and four pied shags. The centrewas dismantled in early February with remainingbirds being cared for at Massey University.

The last oil-affected birds being cared for weresuccessfully released in mid-February. On 24February, the National Oiled Wildlife ResponseTeam (NOWRT) was stood down from theTauranga-Rena Incident Command Centre. Localwildlife experts and the Department ofConservation will continue to respond to reportsof affected animals and a team at MasseyUniversity will be ready to treat any affectedwildlife. NOWRT also remains on standby.

Container and debris recovery

Over 1000 tonnes of waste have been recoveredsince the incident. Over 8000 volunteers and 12Adopt-a-Beach groups have been involved inbeach clean-ups throughout the region.

Of the 1368 containers on board the Rena at thetime of grounding, over 550 have been recovered

Rena Update

from the vessel by salvors and 71 containers havebeen recovered from the water and shoreline.There are 17 containers that have been locatedaway from the Rena but have not yet beenrecovered.

In late February, beaches in the Hawke’s Bay andGisborne areas were surveyed following reportsof possible Rena debris washing ashore. Thedebris recovered was not oiled.

On 11 March 2012 volunteers involved in OperationBeach Clean have been invited to a thank youevent at Mount Main Beach, Mount Maunganui.The event is supported by Maritime New Zealand,Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Western Bay ofPlenty District Council, Tourism BOP, and TaurangaCity Council.

www.maritimenz.govt.nz and www.boprc.govt.nz

24 February, 2012: salvors have almost removed

all of the containers from the top deck of the

bow section of the Rena. Photo: LOC.

24 February, 2012: the wreck of the Rena sits on

Astrolabe Reef, with the Smit Borneo alongside.

Photo: LOC.

CoastalNews


Kia ora and welcome to the first Coastal News of2012. The year ahead is shaping up to be anexciting one for NZCS with investigations intoprofessional and community awards to be concluded,the new financial structure to be put in place and,not least, our 20th annual conference to celebrate.Regarding the latter, our conference will be heldin Auckland in November. The conference will includea retrospective of the last 20 years of how coastalpractices have evolved as well as a historical lookat the society. This will be topped off with a 1992fashion-themed conference dinner – so dredge upyour Calvins, big collar suits and Air Jordans!

The first meeting of the new 2012 NZCS managementcommittee resulted in some changes in roles andpeople (see list on page 15). Contact ChristopherGomez or myself if you are a student and interestedin the role of student coordinator for the committee.

This first Coastal News issue of the year coincideswith Term 1 of many tertiary coastal studiesprogrammes around the country so I thought I’dtake a moment to list some of these. Forundergraduates these programmes include, amongstothers: the degree in marine science at the Universityof Waikato; various coastal science and managementprogrammes in the geography programmes at the

Word from the Chairby Deirdre E Hart

Universities of Auckland, Canterbury and Otago;the Department of Marine Science courses also atOtago; marine and coastal studies at AucklandUnitec, the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Marine Studies;and Lincoln University courses touching on coastalplanning and management. For professionals andpostgraduates, the above institutions offer tailoredoptions as do NIWA, with short courses periodicallyoffered by the Planning Institute and the ResourceManagement Law Association.

I encourage all our members to keep abreast oflocal coastal education offerings and, if you havethe time and experience, to provide a curriculumcritique. The input of coastal professionals andcommunity can help make sure that the ongoingdevelopment of these programmes results ingraduates who are able to meet the future needsof the New Zealand coast.

Last but not least, I would like to extend our bestwishes to Hannah Hopkins, who is resigning fromher role as NZCS Administrator. Over the last fiveyears Hannah has been a model of efficiency,accuracy and just a wonderful person to work with.We will greatly miss her as a part of the committeeteam, but wish her well with her future endeavours.Hannah’s position will be filled by Renee Foster ofWaikato University.

Christopher Gomez

Christopher is a lecturer at theUniversity of Canterbury. He wasborn in France and spent hischildhood between Paris, France;South-Devon, UK; and SouthGermany before moving toSingapore, Indonesia, Japan,and finally New Zealand.

As a graduate student at Sorbonne University,Christopher was awarded his PhD on ‘Erosion andsedimentation linked to high energy flows andwaves’ at Paris 7 Diderot University before acceptinga postdoctoral position on a shared programmebetween the French CNRS and University of California– Berkeley (US) to research environmental processesin the Sacramento floodplain. During these years,he also studied tsunamis in North Sumatra (2004),Java (2006), and Tohoku (2011).

Christopher is presently involved in tsunami andpalaeotsunami research in New Zealand, studyingassociated sedimentation, erosion processes,hazards, and risk management. He is also presentlylooking at the continuum of environmental processesfrom headwaters to the sea in the CanterburyPlains, in order to develop a holistic understandingof our environment and develop best management.As a management committee member Christopherhopes to be able to make a difference by working

Management Committee Members – Close-upwith scientists, practitioners, and all the lovers ofNew Zealand’s breath-taking coasts.

Jose Borrero

Jose earned a PhD in coastalengineering at the University ofSouthern California (USC) in LosAngeles, US in 2002. He thenworked as a postdoctorate andresearch professor before comingto New Zealand in 2006 to jointhe team at ASR Ltd in Raglan.

Jose’s background is in civil and environmentalengineering with an emphasis on water resourcesand a specialty in numerical modelling. He isparticularly interested in tsunami hydrodynamicsand the coastal effects of tsunamis. Jose’s otherresearch interests include coastal processes,sediment transport, wave breaking, and design oferosion control and beach protection structuresand schemes. He is also involved in laboratoryphysical modelling projects. As a managementcommittee member, Jose is keen to support NewZealand’s coastal management community – fromresearchers to practitioners to decision-makers –and help out with the organisation of importantevents such as the annual conference and theCoasts and Ports Conference when it is held inNew Zealand.

CoastalNews

March 2012 11

As many of you know, I have recently crossed theditch, trading the shaking of Christchurch for thesun of Queensland. As a result I have swappedfrom consultant and university lecturer to workingfor the Queensland State Government as a coastalscientist in the Environment Planning section ofthe Department of Environment and ResourceManagement (DERM).

To put a New Zealand perspective on DERM, it isbest described as a cross between the Ministry forthe Environment, the Department of Conservation,an office of climate change, and a regional council;and has around 5000 employees spread across thestate. So some smart person (e.g. Deirdre!) decidedit would be a good idea for me to contribute piecesto Coastal News on comparisons of coastalmanagement and planning between Queenslandand Godzone. And before you jump to conclusions,while I may be living in the West Island, I am stillvery much a Crusaders and All Blacks rugby supporter!

The big job at the moment in Queensland coastalplanning has been preparing the new Queensland

Coastal Plan (QCP) for release. After a few hiccupsand last minute changes, this plan, which is preparedunder the Coastal Protection and Management Act1995, came into effect from 3 February 2012. Thenew QCP replaces the State Coastal Management

Plan (2001) and associated regional coastalmanagement plans.

The coastal plan has two parts:

• the State Policy for Coastal Management; and

• the State Planning Policy 3/11: Coastal Protection(SPP).

The State Policy for Coastal Management providespolicy direction for natural resource management

Queensland Coastal Planningby Derek Todd, Coastal Principal Scientist, Environment Planning,

Department of Environment and Resource Management

decision-makers aboutland on the coast, suchas coastal reserves,beaches, esplanades andtidal areas.

The SPP provides policydirection and assessmentcriteria to direct land-useplanning anddevelopment assessmentdecision-making. It is astate instrument adoptedunder the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA) andthe Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995.

The QCP is supported by maps for planning purposesthat indicate where particular policies of the coastalplan apply. Property-scale maps of all coastal planmapping layers and map sheets for coastal hazardareas are available on the DERM website atwww.derm.qld.gov.au/coastalplan

As part of the release, DERM is proposing refresherinformation sessions on the QCP for coastal plannersfrom other state government departments, localgovernment, and consultancies.

Further information on the QCP is available on theDERM website or by [email protected]

My role leading up to the release of the QCP hasbeen to check the calculation and mapping of theerosion-prone areas in the plan, which along withstorm-tide inundation areas, form the basis fordefining the areas where the SPP is to apply underthe plan. Explanation on methodology in definingthese areas, however, will have to wait until mynext instalment.

Each year the NZCS offers up to two scholarshipsfor Master and PhD students. Winners of the2011 awards were announced at our 19th annualconference in November 2011.

Scholarships are awarded to students conductingresearch that has the potential to lead to solutionsto some of New Zealand’s most challengingcoastal issues. The winner of the PhD scholarshipreceives $5,000 toward study. The winner of theMaster scholarship receives $2,500 toward study.

Winners and honourable mentions for 2011 were:

PhD scholarship winner: Amir Emami, Departmentof Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Waikato.Thesis: Seepage line influence on beach face

volume at Muriwai Beach.

NZCS 2011 Scholarship WinnersHonourable mention: Shawn Harrison, Departmentof Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Waikato.Thesis: Modelling sediment exchange in and

around ebb-tidal deltas in meso-tidal zones.

Master scholarship winner: Megan Young, Instituteof Natural Resources, Massey University, AlbanyCampus. Thesis: Breeding biology of northern

New Zealand white-faced storm petrels

(Pelagodroma marina maoriana): in preparation

for the first translocation of the species.

Honourable mention: Lisa McCartain, Departmentof Biological Sciences, University of Waikato.Thesis: The effect of a thin terrigenous deposit

on porewater fluxes in permeable sediments in

response to modified hydraulic activities of

Macomona liliana.

CoastalNews


News from the RegionsNorthland Regionby Michael Day, Regional Coordinator

Regional policy statement

The new draft regional policy statement (RPS) forNorthland was released for public feedback fromOctober to December 2011. The draft RPS containspolicies on new development in the coastalenvironment and managing coastal hazards. It alsoincludes a section on the efficient use of coastalwater space and commits to establishing a coastaloccupation charging regime. Northland RegionalCouncil (NRC) received 163 written submissions onthe draft RPS. The intention is to have a notifiedRPS ready for formal public consultation by June2012.

Mapping project

The NRC mapping project to identify the coastalenvironment, high/outstanding natural characterareas in the coastal environment, and outstandingnatural features and landscapes region-wide isprogressing with draft maps for these areasscheduled for completion by early April 2012. Themaps are intended to be included in the proposedRPS once they have been approved by the NRCRegional Policy and Development Committee andhave been publicly consulted on.

Pilotage movements

Pilotage movements in the Bay of Islands wasexpected to reach 110 this past summer. This isthe highest number of pilotage movements everscheduled in the region.

Navigation safety bylaw

The NRC has recently finished consulting onproposed changes to the Northland Regional CouncilNavigation Safety Bylaw. Some of the proposedchanges to the current bylaw include new andaltered areas designated for high-speed activities,removal of some existing ski lanes, restrictions onthe transfer of mooring licenses in full mooringareas, changes to some prohibited anchorages as

a result of alterations to underwater cable areas,and an increased emphasis on mooring maintenance.

The NRC received over 500 submissions during theconsultation period on the proposed bylaw. Hearingsto consider public submissions on the proposedbylaw are expected to be held in March or April2012.

Pollution monitoring

Marine pollution regulation patrols were completedin Whangarei, Tutukaka, Bay of Islands, andWhangaroa. These patrols target popular anchoragelocations and involve staff educating yachties onthe rules regarding sewage. Details on each vessel’slocation and means of containment or treatmentare collected. Patrols found 77 per cent of vesselshad holding tanks, 16 per cent had treatmentsystems, and 7 per cent had direct dischargesystems.

Mangrove mapping

A Bay of Islands mangrove and seagrass habitatdigital mapping project was recently completedusing 1977 and 2009 aerial images. The digitalmapping is part of a larger project investigatingsediment accumulation rates in the Bay of Islandsand the impacts on the health of the coastalenvironment.

Consents

Since the aquaculture reforms went into effect twonew applications have been lodged for marinefarms in Northland. One of the applications is fora 125-ha mussel farm offshore of Stephenson Islandnear Whangaroa Bay. The NRC is awaiting furtherinformation before proceeding with processing thisapplication.

Economic development

Enterprise Northland (the economic developmentagency for the Northland region) held the inauguralmeeting of Northland’s Aquaculture DevelopmentGroup in Whangarei on 13 December 2011. Thisgroup is industry led and includes iwi, regulatoryexperts, and research and development companies.The group plans to hold an aquaculture forum in2012.

Bay of Plentyby Reuben Fraser, Regional Coordinator

Opotiki cycleway

In April 2011 the Opotiki District Council and theDepartment of Conservation were granted resourceconsent to construct and maintain an 8.5-km cycletrail along Opotiki’s Hikuwai and Tirohanga coastalsand dune area. The dune area is typically vegetatedwith both native and exotic coastal species and isconsidered to be ecologically significant with somekey areas of native pohuehue vinelands vegetationidentified.

Dual cruise ships in the Bay of Islands.

Photo: Northland Regional Council.

CoastalNews

March 2012 13

Opotiki Coastal Cycleway.

Photo: Opotiki District Council.

The sand dune section from Snells Beach toWairakaia Road of the cycleway is now complete.Additionally, the connecting Department ofConservation section onto the Waiau River with aslight diversion out to the beach around theTirohanga Bluff is in place. The Waiau Bridge isalso complete and open.

Coastal plan

Provisions relating to restricted coastal activitieswere removed from the Bay of Plenty Regional

Coastal Environment Plan on 22 February 2011.Policy 29 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy

Statement 2010 directed that restricted coastalactivities be removed from coastal plans withoutusing the plan change process set out in Schedule1 of the Resource Management Act 1991. A planchange to provide more specifically for aquacultureis now underway.

Port of Tauranga dredging

The Port of Tauranga was granted consent in June2010 by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council towiden and deepen the shipping channels of TaurangaHarbour. This decision was appealed to theEnvironment Court by three tangata whenua

groups. Just before Christmas last year theEnvironment Court granted consent to the applicationsubject to final conditions being worked through. Thisdecision has been appealed to the High Court bytwo of the three appellant groups with a hearingscheduled for April 2012.

Hawke’s Bayby Neil Daykin, Regional Coordinator

Haumoana – Te Awanga coastline report

The modelling and feasibility study of coastalprotection works for the Haumoana – Te Awangacoastline is due for release soon by Hastings DistrictCouncil and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Thereport provides UNIBEST shoreline evolution modelanalysis of the feasibility of protecting the Haumoanacoastline with a groyne field. The modelling willclarify the physical coastal processes, the impactsand/or mitigation measures required of a groynefield, and revised costs for potential coastal protectionworks.

Joint consent hearing for seawall

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Hastings DistrictCouncil have held a joint resource consent hearingto determine whether or not a seawall can be builtin Haumoana. The proposed wall would be built2.5 m seaward of an existing wall which was builtin 2004 to protect the residential property from thefast-encroaching sea. The existing wall has a 50 percent chance of failing in the next seven years.

The applicant says that the proposed seawall willprovide protection for his property while morepermanent options, such as a groyne field ormanaged retreat, are considered. The effect of theproposed wall on neighbouring properties was oneof the main considerations given during the hearing.The commissioners have adjourned the hearing toallow time for staff to address some of the mattersraised in evidence.

Fact-finding trip to Canada

In February, Trevor Freeman, Gisborne DistrictCouncil’s Environmental Services Manager, andBryce Lawrence, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’sManager – Compliance and Pollution Response,visited Canada to assess oil and gas explorationand production activities, including the practiceof fracking (fracturing oil bearing rock strata atdepth).

The purpose of the trip was for the two councils’staff members to learn about new approachesto oil and gas exploration to assist them inproviding impartial, well-informed advice tocouncillors and decision-makers on resourceconsent applications.

Meetings and site visits were arranged mainlyby the organisations that regulate oil and gasexploration in British Columbia and Alberta. As

part of the visit, the Calgary-based ApacheCorporation, a partner in the proposed well-drillingactivities on the East Coast of the North Island,showed the two council staff aspects of theirCanadian operations.

Look for more on this emerging issue in the Julyissue of Coastal News.

Hydraulic fracturing – GNS Science report

The GNS Science report, An Assessment of the

Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing on Seismicity, wasreleased in February. Commissioned by theTaranaki Regional Council, the report examinesseismic data for any evidence of seismic activityassociated with hydraulic fracturing or deep wellre-injection operations in Taranaki, from 2001 to2011. The report is available atwww.trc.govt.nz/hydraulic-fracturing

Oil and Gas Exploration in the News

CoastalNews


Thanks to the TASCAM if you are a Tasman Bayfisher, boatie, marine farmer, or council plannerover the past year you have had a way of findingout conditions ranging from speed of winds to seasurface temperature to salinity levels.

The TASCAM system was installed in April 2011 –the result of a collaborative effort by the CawthronInstitute and the US-based Monterey Bay AquariumResearch Institute (MBARI).

The TASCAM (an aggregated acronym for TASmanBay, CAwthron, and MBARI) system includes a buoyand instruments in the water column and on theseafloor that can measure weather conditions,currents, temperature, salinity, turbidity, andchlorophyll in the surrounding environment.

The Cawthron Institute designed the system usingtechnologies passed on from MBARI’s long-termresearch and development of remotely operateddeep-sea observation systems. MBARI contributedmechanical drawings, software, and an electronicspackage called the OASIS mooring controller. Thiselectronics package collects the data from all thedifferent instruments and then relays this data toshore.

Cawthron Marine Scientist Chris Cornelisen saysthat while Cawthron scientists have installed scientificinstruments in Tasman Bay before, this was thefirst time they have set up a long-term, real-timemonitoring system.

“The immediacy of the data means that it can beused, for example, to alert a fisher that the watertemperature is ideal for catching a certain species,or to advise marine farmers of the presence of achlorophyll bloom, or to alert scientists that therehas been a drop in salinity that may mean a higherlikelihood of contamination from river plumes.”

Chris says that over the past year the TASCAM hasallowed scientists to capture and distribute dataabout Tasman Bay online – an information boonfor stakeholders. The data from TASCAM istransmitted to shore using radio frequency via theNelson City Council’s radio tower. This means datacan be downloaded both reliably and economically.

“Instead of having to attach our monitoringinstruments to anchor cables and then rely on datacabling to retrieve data, we have used inductivetechnology, whereby instruments deliver datathrough the same cable that moors the buoy tothe seafloor. The inductive technology combinedwith MBARI’s OASIS controller enables us to ‘talk’to individual instruments and retrieve the dataremotely by computer back in our office where wehave programmes to generate graphs that canimmediately provide the information in a varietyof ways.”

A year on since the installation of the TASCAM andChris says the results have been promising.

Tasman Bay – the TASCAM viewby Shelly Biswell, Editor

“The system provides an incredibly effective andefficient way to monitor our coastal waters. It alsoensures that all stakeholders have the same levelof access to the information they need.”

This April, members of the MBARI team will returnto New Zealand to trial an environmental sampleprocessor (ESP) alongside TASCAM. The ESP is a‘molecular lab in a can’ that will be remotelyoperated to detect DNA gene products from humanfaecal bacteria, native and invasive invertebratelarvae, and bloom-forming phytoplankton.

Chris says, “TASCAM has allowed us to establishbaseline conditions and better understand coastalprocesses in Tasman Bay. This information is crucialfor understanding environmental change in responseto upstream land uses and development ofaquaculture.

“The vision is for a national coastal observationnetwork of systems like TASCAM, which wouldprovide accessible datasets for use by a range ofend-users across New Zealand and internationallywhere the data can be used to develop a muchbetter picture of what is happening in our oceans.”

Visit www.cawthron.org.nz/coastal-freshwater-resources/tascam.php to learn more.

Deploying the TASCAM mooring in Tasman Bay.

Photo: Cawthron Institute.

The TASCAM includes a buoy and instruments in

the water column and on the seafloor below.

Photo: Cawthron Institute.

CoastalNews

March 2012 15

Contributions

We welcome contributions for each issue ofCoastal News. Please contact Shelly Biswell [email protected] if you’d like to submit a newsbrief, article, or have content suggestions. Thesubmission deadline for the next issue is 4 June2012.

Now delivered in pdf format

At the 2011 AGM, members voted that the defaultdistribution of Coastal News will be in pdf formatand delivered to members via email. Whenregistering with NZCS, members will still have

Coastal Newsthe option to have print copies of Coastal News

delivered, however, if this option is not selectedmembers will only receive the environmentallyfriendly pdf version.

Missed an issue?

Back issues of Coastal News are available on theCoastal Society website. Members will need tolog in to access the latest issue, but back issues(from Issue 6, April 1996) are freely available.

Visit www.coastalsociety.org.nz and follow the‘Publications’ link on the front page.

NZCS Regional CoordinatorsEvery region has a NZCS Regional Coordinator who is available to help you with any queries about NZCSactivities or coastal issues in your local area.

North IslandNorthland Michael Day [email protected]

André Labonté [email protected]

Auckland Hugh Leersnyder [email protected]

Waikato Amy Robinson [email protected]

Bay of Plenty Reuben Fraser [email protected]

Hawke’s Bay Neil Daykin [email protected]

Taranaki Erin Zydervelt [email protected]

Wellington Iain Dawe [email protected]

South IslandUpper South Island Eric Verstappen [email protected]

Canterbury Justin Cope [email protected]

Otago Mike Hilton [email protected]

Southland Ken Murray [email protected]

NZCS Management CommitteeChairperson: Deirdre Hart [email protected]

Deputy Chairperson/IPENZ Coordinator: Rick Liefting [email protected]

Treasurer: Eric Verstappen [email protected]

Deputy Treasurer: Andrew Swales [email protected]

Membership & Partners Liaison: Harley Spence [email protected]

Regional Coordinators: Hugh Leersnyder [email protected] Borrero [email protected]

Education & University Coordinator: Christopher Gomez [email protected]

Central Government Coordinators: Denise Young [email protected] Sheridan [email protected]

Coastal News Coordinators: Amy Robinson [email protected] Gomez [email protected]

Other NZCS Contacts

Administrator and Digest Coordinator: Renee Foster [email protected]

Coastal News Editor: Shelly Biswell [email protected]

CoastalNews


New Zealand Coastal SocietyCorporate Members

Corporate membership enables organisationsand companies to become part of the NewZealand Coastal Society and support thesociety’s mission of taking a leading role infacilitating a vibrant, healthy and sustainablecoastal and ocean environment.

Organisations and companies can show theirsupport for the aims and activities of thesociety and achieve public recognition of thatsupport.

Corporate membership benefits include:

• High-profile listing as a corporate membersponsor on the NZCS website(www.coastalsociety.org.nz/Corporate.htm).

• Website listing of services provided bycorporate organisation, contact details,and links to recent projects or corporatemember website.

• One free individual membership for theperson nominated as the corporate contactor any subsequent replacement alternate.

• Five complimentary copies of Coastal News

published three times per year.

• Discounted registration at member ratesfor the corporate contact to all NZCSconferences.

• Short feature on a corporate member inthe Coastal News newsletter.

For more information on corporatememberships please contact:

Harley SpenceMembership CoordinatorCoastal Society [email protected]

The New Zealand Coastal Society would like to acknowledgeour corporate members for their support:

DisclaimerOpinions expressed in Coastal News are those of various authors and do not necessarily represent those of theeditor, the NZCS management committee, or NZCS. Every effort is made to provide accurate and factual content.The publishers and editorial staff, however, cannot accept responsibility for any inadvertent errors or omissionsthat may occur.

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