Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Damage to water pipes, Oxford Terrace between Lichfield and Cashel Streets".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Pipes carrying water to homes run along Moncrieff Place".
A hole in the side of the road along Avonside Drive. A blue pipe can be seen inside the hole. Pipes like this were used to provide temporary water supplies to the neighbourhood while the water system was being repaired.
A crack next to the Avon River caused by the ground slumping after the 4 September earthquake. A blue pipe has been laid over the crack. Many kilometres of these temporary water pipes have been run overground in Avonside to supply houses with water.
A cracked and broken footpath on Galbraith Avenue. Blue pipes carrying temporary water supplies to the neighbourhood can just be seen running beside the footpath.
Sullivan Park in Avonside. Liquefaction can be seen running across the park. Two signs have slumped towards each other. Blue pipes carrying a temporary water supply to the neighbourhood have been placed across the park.
Study region: Christchurch, New Zealand. Study focus: Low-lying coastal cities worldwide are vulnerable to shallow groundwater salinization caused by saltwater intrusion and anthropogenic activities. Shallow groundwater salinization can have cascading negative impacts on municipal assets, but this is rarely considered compared to impacts of salinization on water supply. Here, shallow groundwater salinity was sampled at high spatial resolution (1.3 piezometer/km²), then mapped and spatially interpolated. This was possible due to a uniquely extensive set of shallow piezometers installed in response to the 2010–11 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence to assess liquefaction risk. The municipal assets located within the brackish groundwater areas were highlighted. New hydrological insights for the region: Brackish groundwater areas were centred on a spit of coastal sand dunes and inside the meander of a tidal river with poorly drained soils. The municipal assets located within these areas include: (i) wastewater and stormwater pipes constructed from steel-reinforced concrete, which, if damaged, are vulnerable to premature failure when exposed to chloride underwater, and (ii) 41 parks and reserves totalling 236 ha, within which salt-intolerant groundwater-dependent species are at risk. This research highlights the importance of determining areas of saline shallow groundwater in low-lying coastal urban settings and the co-located municipal assets to allow the prioritisation of sites for future monitoring and management.