Floodwaters pool in South Dunedin, but the house itself was not flooded. Photo: RNZ / Nathan Mckinnon
South Dunedin residents have choices ranging from fight or flight as their low-lying community faces inevitable flooding and damage without action.
A recent report shows half of all buildings are at risk of flood - and that figure will be closer to 70 percent by the turn of the century.
Councils are talking to locals about the hazards and asking them how they want to adapt.
It's an anxious time in South Dunedin when it rains.
The community is home to more than 13,000 residents who know what it's like to see floodwaters rising in the streets or even lapping at their doors.
Recent flooding and the risk of more in the future inspired Henry Tanner to find out what could be done.
"I'm concerned about the water through South Dunedin and stuff like that. I'm ok where I am but seeing the heavy rain [on Tuesday], I'm assuming there would be a lot of people that would be worried about their property and sections," he said.
He wanted South Dunedin homes built to withstand the rising water.
"New builds should be higher on foundations ... and then at least they know the house is gonna be safe, it's not going to get flooded because some of these houses here are close to the ground," he said.
He would like to see more green spaces including wetlands to store the water and attract native wildlife.
South Dunedin Future is a joint initiative by the Dunedin city and Otago regional councils.
On Tuesday, it held its first drop-in session and workshop to help residents get their heads around the decision they were facing as waves of heavy rain swept through the city.
South Dunedin Future research shows the community will face more water from the sky, land and sea, and critical infrastructure is expected to fail.
Programme manager Jonathan Rowe said the conversations might be confronting, but they were necessary to decide how to manage those risks.
"This is the bit where it will have gotten real for people. We've released a risk assessment that puts some lines on maps. It shows the risk in South Dunedin is high already and it is going to get higher," he said.
"I think for the first time we've been able to illustrate what might South Dunedin look like following different approaches."
So the question is - what does the future look like and what does the community want it to be?
"That's on that spectrum of fight or flight. We can build lots of things, we can build pumps, pipes, seawalls. We can create streams, parks, wetlands to help manage the water, or we can move people out of harm's way," Rowe said.
Each option is expected to cost between $2 billion and $7.1 billion dollars over the next 75 years.
"It's a very big figure but this work is expensive, it's impactful. There's a lot of infrastructure in place in South Dunedin that's going to be affected. There's a lot of property that would be affected so you just end with quite big numbers when you put it all together," he said.
The Dunedin City Council spent about $200 million every year on infrastructure which worked out to be about $15 billion over 75 years. It would mean spending between 20 to 45 percent on the kinds of solutions suggested for South Dunedin, he said.
The response has been more muted than he expected, especially now there were maps and pictures illustrating the different options and hazard areas.
But Jonathan Rowe said there was a lot to digest and he encouraged residents to have their say.
South Dunedin Community Network chair Mike Hammond said his garage and sleepout had flooded after water rushed off the hills and onto the flat.
Residents were passionate about their community with many wanting to stay, but he acknowledged the flooding was stressful.
"A lot of the anxiety is around that they have to shift out of their houses, their houses become contaminated if there's sewage seeping into the floodwater," he said.
The network had been meeting with South Dunedin Future for years.
Hammond was pleased with the options on the table, but said it was essential for the community to tell the councils what it wanted for the future.
"We just hope that the community feel listened to when the final decision's made."
The South Dunedin Future consultation continues until mid-May.
The community feedback would then be analysed and more feasibility work would be on the cards before a shortlist of options was created by early next year.
The final plan was expected to be ready by the end of next year.
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