OpenFlows Water - Webinar Event with Bentley and Matrix
New Zealand's water utilities face escalating climate-driven pressures to build flood and drought resilience, prompting urgent upgrades to modeling tools like Bentley's OpenFlows Water.
Key takeaways
- •Intensifying climate extremes in New Zealand, including heavier storms and prolonged dry spells, are straining aging water and stormwater infrastructure, risking service disruptions and higher repair costs for councils.
- •Recent Bentley software updates incorporate AI-driven analytics and better integration for real-time resilience planning, addressing gaps in traditional models amid stricter sustainability expectations.
- •Local authorities risk non-compliance with evolving environmental standards and funding shortfalls if they delay adopting advanced hydraulic modeling, potentially leading to inefficient investments and greater flood damage exposure.
Climate Pressures on NZ Water Systems
New Zealand's water infrastructure operates under mounting stress from climate change. Extreme weather events have grown more frequent and severe, with record rainfall causing urban flooding in some regions while droughts deplete reservoirs in others. Councils and water authorities must now design systems that withstand these shifts while meeting demands from population growth in vulnerable areas.
Bentley's OpenFlows Water suite provides hydraulic modeling for distribution networks, stormwater, and flood scenarios. The upcoming webinar timing aligns with recent product evolutions that embed AI capabilities for anomaly detection, energy optimization, and predictive planning—features highlighted in Bentley's 2025-2026 releases and case studies from utilities worldwide adapting similar tools.
The stakes are tangible for New Zealand. Flood events have already inflicted millions in damages annually, with insurance payouts rising and central government pushing for resilient infrastructure under climate adaptation frameworks. Inaction exposes utilities to regulatory penalties, escalating operational costs from leaks and inefficiencies, and public health risks from compromised water quality or supply interruptions.
A key tension lies in balancing immediate compliance needs against long-term investment. While advanced modeling promises cost savings—such as 18% energy reductions seen in comparable projects—upfront adoption requires training and data integration that smaller councils may struggle to fund. Meanwhile, global trends show utilities leveraging these tools to cut non-revenue water losses and carbon emissions, but New Zealand's unique terrain and decentralized management add complexity to implementation.
Sources
- https://events.humanitix.com/openflows-water-webinar-event-with-bentley-and-matrix
- https://www.bentley.com/software/openflows-water
- https://blog.bentley.com/software/designing-for-efficiency-reducing-energy-costs-and-building-resilient-water-infrastructure
- https://www.wateronline.com/doc/water-utility-outlook-regulation-ai-and-resilience-in-the-face-of-scarcity-0001
- https://bentleysystems.service-now.com/community?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0049104
- https://www.bentley.com/news/bentley-systems-advances-infrastructure-ai-with-new-applications-and-industry-collaboration
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