Regional resilience - It's what we do | Waikato Regional Council

Regional resilience. It's what we do.

We operate a 24-hour flood warning system with automated alerts from 50 sites.

Regional councils work to increase regional resilience to natural hazards and have significant obligations and responsibilities in times of emergency. Events or situations occur across many different landscapes, and include floods, landslips, geothermal activity, coastal hazards and inundation, volcanic activity, marine oil spills, and even pandemics – like COVID-19. Here is snapshot of some of what we do.
- We identify, collate, analyse and provide natural hazard information to district councils and the Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, iwi, landowners and other stakeholders to enable better decision making to minimise risk and harm to people, homes, businesses and infrastructure – this information also helps inform our river management, flood protection and land drainage programmes.
- We partner with district councils on climate change adaptation planning for communities that may be affected by increased flooding and sea level rise.
- We have staff trained to work across all the functions (safety, intelligence, planning, operations, logistics, public information and welfare) of a Group Emergency Coordination Centre (GECC) for an activated emergency response.
- We build and maintain our response capability by training dedicated staff and specialists to a national standard, and we also hold regular training exercises, for example, for tier 2 marine oil spills and to work as part of a GECC.
You can find out information about river flooding, coastal hazard, coastal inundation, earthquake and landslide, volcano and geothermal risk in your area on our online spatial tool, the Waikato Regional Hazards Portal.

Currently, we’re involved in climate action adaptation planning for communities in:
- Thames-Coromandel
- Hauraki Plains
- Kaiaua coast
- Port Waikato
- lower Waikato River catchment.
Waikato Regional Council’s Integrated Catchment Management Committee, which is made up of 10 councillors and meets every two months, has responsibilities that include overseeing and monitoring the performance and effectiveness of resilient development and emergency management.

The Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Joint Committee, which comprises elected members from the region's territorial authorities and Waikato Regional Council, provides political oversight and governance to ensure that the functions and obligations of the Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group are fulfilled.
We work in partnership with iwi Māori to strengthen regional resilience, ensuring Māori knowledge, values, and priorities are embedded in disaster preparedness, climate adaptation, and community resilience planning.
- Iwi play a critical role in resilience planning through co-governance arrangements and joint management agreements.
- Indigenous knowledge of land use, water management, and environmental stewardship informs resilience planning and disaster risk reduction.
- We collaborate with iwi on climate resilience strategies, ensuring Māori perspectives shape adaptation plans.
- Iwi actively contribute to civil defence planning and emergency response efforts.
- We support iwi-led projects that enhance community resilience, such as river and wetland restoration, food security initiatives, and sustainable land management.
Through these partnerships, Waikato Regional Council upholds its Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitments while fostering a stronger, more resilient region that integrates both scientific and cultural perspectives on sustainability and risk management.

Stories about regional resilience

More information about regional resilience

Regional hazards and emergency management Waikato Regional Hazards Portal Waikato Civil Defence

Regional hazards and emergency management Waikato Regional Hazards Portal Waikato Civil Defence

What else do we do?

Improving water quality, enhancing the health of our coastal and marine ecosystems, protecting and restoring our unique native plants and animals and the ecosystems they live in, keeping people safe on our roads and waterways as well as from floods and other hazards, and providing passenger transport services.

We do all this, and more.

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Waikato Regional Council has co-governance and co-management arrangements with several iwi partners.

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