Napier port proposed wharf and dredging project: Assessing potential changes to surfing amenity

Napier Port has recently been granted consents to construct a new wharf and deepen the navigation channel swinging basin and part of the inner harbour. The Port is a vital regional asset, underpinning local employment of an estimated 27,000 people in Hawke's Bay. The additional wharf and associated dredging will assist future regional growth by ensuring the port can accommodate increases in the number and size of cargo vessels calling at Napier. <br /><br /> Napier Port is committed to ensuring the proposed wharf and dredging project can be carried out in a way that respects the environment, including cultural and community values. There is potential for the swell corridor of locally important surf breaks, present to the west of the port to be affected by the dredging project. Avoidance of adverse impacts on the surfing amenity was part of the project design brief.

This paper describes a method used to assess any potential changes to the surfing amenity as a result of the project at the surf breaks and outlines some of the key findings of the surfing amenity assessment. The assessment analysed the surfing amenity classification of two breaks based on long term measured wave data and calibrated and verified numerical wave transformation modelling. The results of the assessment indicated that the surfing amenity at the two breaks would not change considerably as a result of the dredging project and may be improved under some wave conditions.