Awatoto is on a flood plain, separated from the Pacific Ocean by a shingle spit, just north of where the Clive, Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri River estuaries meet Hawke Bay. Until the 1931 earthquake the Tutaekuri flowed north to Ahuriri Lagoon, but a diversion was built from 1934. The Heretaunga Plains Flood Control Scheme, with stop banking, pumps and gravel and river mouth management, helps control floodwaters, but they can still reach the underside of bridges, requiring closures.