Report Fiji Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Activity Scope and Design Flood Warning System Recommendation Report Prepared for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government of New Zealand Prepared by Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd Date June 2020 MFAT Activity Reference Number WPG0101781 ACT-0100374 Document Control Title: Fiji Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Activity Scope and Design Date Version Description Prepared by: Reviewed Authorised by: by: 24/04/2020 1 First draft for client comment Laura Tilly Richard Richard Bapon Reinen- Reinen-Hamill Fakhruddin Hamill 18/06/2020 2 DRAFT Final Report Laura Tilly Richard Richard Bapon Reinen- Reinen-Hamill Fakhruddin Hamill Distribution: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government of New Zealand 1 PDF copy GHD 1 PDF copy Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd (FILE) 1 copy Table of contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Scope of work 1 1.2 Methodology 1 2 Background 2 2.1 River catchments in Fiji 2 2.2 Institutional arrangement for flood management in Fiji 3 3 Flood risk assessment 5 3.1 Gap analysis of the data for flood risk assessment 5 3.1.1 Hydrological observation database 5 3.1.2 Flood modelling 7 3.1.3 Historical record of estimated flood-related damages and losses 9 3.1.4 Strengthening data collection and management 10 3.2 Recommendations for data and risk assessment 10 4 Flood prediction, warning and monitoring system 12 4.1 Flood forecasting and monitoring system 13 4.2 Flood warning system 15 4.3 Current operation and maintenance arrangements for flood warning systems 17 4.4 Recommendations on flood prediction, warning, and monitoring 17 5 Assessment of options and overall recommendations 21 6 Applicability 27 Appendix A : List of people met Appendix B : Summary of previous projects Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd June 2020 Fiji Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Activity Scope and Design - Flood Warning System Job No: MFAT Activity Reference- WPG0101781 Recommendation Report ACT-0100374 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government of New Zealand Executive summary Fiji is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, especially to tropical cyclones, heavy rains and floods, making disaster risk reduction a key priority. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has partnered with the Government of the Republic of Fiji to discharge core disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management functions, to better coordinate and manage their partners, and thereby reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. This report outlines the outcomes of a gap analysis of the flood risk and flood data and a gap analysis of the flood prediction, warning and monitoring systems operated by the FMS. The basis for this assessment included a review of available literature and datasets, in-country stakeholder consultations and field observations. The datasets assessed included real-time weather data (precipitation, temperature, soil moisture and humidity), river flow data, and historical flood damage estimates, which are required for assessing flood risk. It makes recommendations on strengthening data collection and management, the operation and maintenance arrangements for flood warning systems and options for enhancing flood warning systems. Recommendations to improve data and data management include: strengthening institutional arrangements and coordination, improving and expanding rainfall and flow data collection from key river basins, improving data on land use and vegetation cover in flood watersheds, increasing the use of remote sensing data collection for non-gauged basins, and development of a centralised database. Recommendations for improving the flood prediction, warning and monitoring system include: providing the needed equipment, setting up the catchment-based flood forecasting system for each major catchment, developing standard operation procedures for flood warning system, developing a communication and warning dissemination strategy, and strengthen capacity of the relevant agencies. This report also provides the overall recommendations for enhancing flood warning in Fiji, outlining medium to low and least-cost options for strengthening flood prediction, warning and monitoring systems under three scenarios: business as usual, defensive scenario, and resilience scenario. Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd June 2020 Fiji Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Activity Scope and Design - Flood Warning System Job No: MFAT Activity Reference- WPG0101781 Recommendation Report ACT-0100374 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government of New Zealand Glossary of terms CAP Common Alerting Protocol DEM Digital Elevation Model DRM Disaster Risk Management DRR Disaster Risk Reduction EWS Early Warning System FMS Fiji Meteorological Service GIS Geographical Information Systems ICAO International Civil Aviation Organisation IMO International Maritime Organisation MFAT Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade MIT Ministry of Transport MLMR Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources MOWE Ministry of Water and Environment NDMO National Disaster Management Agency NEOC National Emergency Operations Centre O&M Operations and Management PDaLO Pacific Damage and Loss Database TCAC Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centre WAF Water Authority Fiji WMO World Meteorological Organization SOP Standard Operating Procedure Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd June 2020 Fiji Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Activity Scope and Design - Flood Warning System Job No: MFAT Activity Reference- WPG0101781 Recommendation Report ACT-0100374 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government of New Zealand 1 1 Introduction The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has partnered with the Government of the Republic of Fiji, supporting Fiji’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) and the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to discharge core disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM) functions, to better coordinate and manage their partners, and thereby reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. 1.1 Scope of work Tonkin + Taylor International (T+TI) has been engaged by GHD Ltd. to lead the system strengthening for flood warning systems and tsunami sirens. This report is outlining recommended options for delivering a flood end-to-end early warning system (EWS). This is to include: • Gap analysis of the flood risk and flood data • Gap analysis of the flood prediction, warning and monitoring systems operated by the FMS • Strengthening data collection and management • Operation and maintenance arrangements for flood warning systems • Assessment of the options for flood warning systems. The report provides sufficient detail on the options for flood warning systems, including technical specifications, implementation requirements, operations and maintenance agreements, which will enable tendering for required services. Feedback provided from relevant stakeholders and MFAT will be integrated into the final version of the Flood Warning System Recommendation Report. 1.2 Methodology A desktop review of available literature was conducted to identify gaps in flood related data, EWS for flood, and how the system is operated and maintained. Assessment of the gaps identified from the literature review informed the recommendations for delivering an end-to-end flood EWS. A two-member team visited Fiji during 17– 19 February 2020. The purpose of the field mission was to discuss with key stakeholders the ways for improving the current flood and tsunami hazard warning and monitoring systems. Key stakeholders included NDMO, Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), the Pacific Community (SPC), GeoSciences, Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources (MOLMR), Ministry of Waterways and Environment (MOWE), and Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC). During the mission, T+TI provided an overview of the approach and methodology to enhance tsunami siren and flood warning systems in Fiji. Information provided by key stakeholders was essential to get perspectives of residents and responsible agencies. The people consulted during the in-country visit are listed in Appendix A. Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd June 2020 Fiji Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Activity Scope and Design - Flood Warning System Job No: MFAT Activity Reference- WPG0101781 Recommendation Report ACT-0100374 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government of New Zealand 2 2 Background Fiji is an archipelago of approximately 330 islands with an estimated 884,887 population based on the 2017 Fiji Bureau of Statistics’ census. The two largest islands Viti Levu and Vanua Levu (87% of the total land area) have mountainous landscapes with peaks rising to 1,323m ad 1,032m respectively (Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, 2020). Urban centres including Nadi, Lautoka, Ba and Labasa are situated near the mouths of significant rivers and are some of the most vulnerable areas to flood hazard. Fiji is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, including tropical cyclones, floods, storm surges, earthquakes and tsunamis (UNDRR, 2019). The most common natural hazards in Fiji are tropical cyclones, heavy rains and floods, occurring frequently during the monsoon season (Government of the Republic of Fiji, 2019). Recent flood events including riverine and flash floods have caused significant damage to vulnerable urban communities, resulting in substantial financial and economic losses, and causing negative impacts to infrastructure, environment, and health and education sectors (UFCOP, 2017). Losses