New Zealand Flood Map

We are developing the New Zealand Flood Map to provide a trusted picture of flood hazards across the country. It will bring together existing flood information from councils in one place and add new national modelling to help fill gaps where local information is not yet available.

Funding from Budget 2026 will support both the development of the flood map, and the new planning system. Together, these will support planning decisions, improve preparedness for climate impacts, and support confidence in where and how New Zealanders build and grow over time.

The New Zealand Flood Map is one of the key actions under the Government’s wider National Adaptation Framework. The first generation of the Map is expected by May 2027 and will continue to improve over time.

• Show where flooding from rivers, heavy rain, or the sea is likely to happen now and in the future.  
• Show where and how climate change may impact flood risk over time.
• Provide trusted information to underpin council adaptation planning, land use and development, infrastructure investment, and emergency responses.
• Provide homeowners, buyers and sellers access to flood risk information relevant to them.
• Identify gaps in existing data, so new information can be prioritised and developed over time.
• Use elevation data and include the effects of stop banks and other flood protection features, where known and modelled.

Despite floods being one of the biggest climate-related challenges we face, information about flood hazard is fragmented across the country. Councils and other organisations use different models, methods, and maps.

In some places we have very good regional or local maps. In other places, this information is lacking. There is currently no single public map that brings this information together in a clear and consistent way.

The Government is investing to improve this.

This investment will:

• bring together existing local flood data into one place
• develop new national modelling to fill gaps where local information is not available
• create a consistent national baseline view of flood hazards for the public and expert users to access 

The New Zealand Flood Map will bring this information together so everyone has a shared starting point for understanding flood hazards. This will support planning, decision making, and ongoing improvement of flood information over time.

The New Zealand Flood Map is being released in stages so people can access useful information as early as possible, while the map continues to improve over time.

• By the end of 2026: Existing flood information from councils will be brought together into a single national view so information is easier to understand and compare. This will be available to technical users, in the first instance.
• By May 2027: The first generation of the NZ Flood Map will be made publicly available. It will include the combined local data, and new national scale flood modelling to fill gaps where local data does not yet exist, providing a consistent view of flood hazards across the country.

The New Zealand Flood Map is designed to improve as new data becomes available. Local flood data will be updated as new modelling is produced, and future generations of the Map will reflect these updates.

This includes:

• updating and refining national and local modelling.
• improving consistency through standardisation of information.
• incorporating more property-specific and building data, such as floor heights and steps that have been taken to reduce risk.

Over time, as better data becomes available, the New Zealand Flood Map will become more detailed, more consistent and more accurate.