Date: |
22 Jul 2026, 12.00PM – 1.00PM |
duration: |
1 hr |
Location: |
Online |
Cost: |
Free event |
Our built environment has been designed and constructed for the environmental conditions that have prevailed throughout our lived history and measurement period. Climate change is taking us outside of these conditions at an increasingly rapid pace, with more extreme rainfall, flooding, drought risk, and sea level rise. Rising water tables are one component of this shift, with important implications for the safety, performance, and longevity of structures and infrastructure.
In this webinar, Zeb Etheridge will discuss the impact of rising water tables on the built environment, drawing on five years of research undertaken as part of the MBIE-funded Future Coasts Aotearoa programme. This includes shallow groundwater exposure maps developed using machine learning and projections of water table rise from numerical groundwater modelling across 300 coastal zones. Zeb will focus on how these outputs can support engineering practitioners to better understand emerging risks and design safer, more robust, and future-resilient systems.
Presenter Bio:
Zeb Etheridge BSc MSc is the Director and Principal Water Resource Scientist at the Adjunct Senior Fellow School of Earth and Environment & Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, University of Canterbury.
The impacts of climate change are not just visible on the surface — they are rising from below. Increasing groundwater levels present growing risks for infrastructure, buildings, and urban systems across coastal New Zealand. Discover how new research is helping engineers identify vulnerabilities and design for a more resilient future.
Our built environment has been designed and constructed for the environmental conditions that have prevailed throughout our lived history and measurement period. Climate change is taking us outside of these conditions at an increasingly rapid pace, with more extreme rainfall, flooding, drought risk, and sea level rise. Rising water tables are one component of this shift, with important implications for the safety, performance, and longevity of structures and infrastructure.
In this webinar, Zeb Etheridge will discuss the impact of rising water tables on the built environment, drawing on five years of research undertaken as part of the MBIE-funded Future Coasts Aotearoa programme. This includes shallow groundwater exposure maps developed using machine learning and projections of water table rise from numerical groundwater modelling across 300 coastal zones. Zeb will focus on how these outputs can support engineering practitioners to better understand emerging risks and design safer, more robust, and future-resilient systems.
Presenter Bio:
Zeb Etheridge BSc MSc is the Director and Principal Water Resource Scientist at the Adjunct Senior Fellow School of Earth and Environment & Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, University of Canterbury.
