Ōtepoti/Dunedin authorities have taken the first step towards some hard climate change decisions.
They've presented 16 different options for the future of flood-prone South Dunedin, but uncertainty remains over costs - and residents won't know if they have to abandon their homes for at least two more years.
The suburb of South Dunedin is home to more than 13,000 people, but its upside is also its downside.
Built on reclaimed wetlands, some of it is almost at sea level.
Flooding forced residents to evacuate in 2015.
"For many months I was terrified we were going to have the same thing happen again," one local resident told Newshub.
The Ōtepoti/Dunedin City Council and Ōtākou/Otago Regional Council have partnered up to make sure it doesn't.
"This is an opportunity to look forward, to look at opportunities and solutions," said Jonathan Rowe, manager of the South Dunedin Future Programme.
The 280 original options were whittled down to just 16, under a framework called PARA (protect, avoid, retreat, accommodate).
The options range from drainage and water storage, to floodable spaces like roads and parks, plus managed retreat.
If the council approves the options next week, they'll go out for public consultation.
But there's one glaring omission - a price tag.
"[It's] too early to say on cost, we're at a high level now, there's lots of different uncertainties and options," Rowe told Newshub.
"If we don't put a price tag on any of these options the community is likely to raise expectations about what can be done in that location," said Belinda Storey, managing director at Climate Sigma.
"The number of solutions they're suggesting - they are so expensive that there isn't any way the local council can pay for it."
South Dunedin isn't the only one facing a potentially hefty bill.
Over the past three years, flooding has destroyed hundreds of homes in Westport, Nelson, Hawke's Bay, Waihi Beach and west Auckland.
"We've had more payouts to customers than we've had the entire century from extreme weather events," said Tim Grafton from Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa / Insurance Council of New Zealand.
Those claims totalled $4 billion this year.
"We need to be thinking about where do we want to consent new development," Grafton told Newshub.
"If it's a dumb place to build, don't build there."
For now, the future of South Dunedin is undecided.
"Sell the houses, turn it into a wetland," one resident told Newshub.
"I have no interest in moving, Dunedin born and bred, and I love the area," said another.
The two councils aim to have a decision by 2026.
