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Gisborne region

Water Quantity

Gisborne values water for a range of  uses such as domestic supply, community drinking water supplies, stock watering and food production. The Waipaoa catchment accounts for about 90% of current regional demand and it is predicted that demand will increase in the future and challenge the supply of water resources.

Gisborne District Council has notified its Proposed Gisborne Freshwater Plan. The proposed Plan includes policies, rules and limits to manage water quantity. Water quantity is a key issue for the region and it is predicted that demand will increase in the future and challenge the supply of water resources. This is already happening in the Waipaoa Catchment which accounts for about 90% of current regional demand. For this reason, the Waipaoa Catchment has been prioritised for setting water quantity limits.

Regional Summary
Water quantity data in this region

Regional councils collect information about how much water is available and manage resource consents for those wishing to take water from rivers or groundwater supplies. Use the buttons below to view regional information on: how much water is available, where it comes from and how its used.

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Rainfall {{waterAvailable.rainfall}} Runoff to sea {{waterAvailable.runoff}} Groundwater available: {{waterSource.groundwater}}
{{waterSource.groundwaterPercentAvailable}}% of total available Surface Water available: {{waterSource.surfacewater}}
{{waterSource.surfacewaterPercentAvailable}}% of total available Irrigation
{{waterUsage.irrigationLabel}} Industrial
{{waterUsage.industrialLabel}} Stock
{{waterUsage.stockLabel}} Hydroelectrical
{{waterUsage.hydroLabel}} Town supply
{{waterUsage.drinkingLabel}}
  • How much water is there in this region?

    Rainfall and runoff in this region

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    Rainfall and runoff

    Relative Volume Source Volume
    Rainfall total:
    {{waterAvailable.rainfall }}
         		rainfall Rainfall Total {{waterAvailable.rainfall}}
    Runoff total:
    {{waterAvailable.runoff }}
         		runoff Runoff to sea {{waterAvailable.runoff}}

    The table above shows the average amount of rainfall the region receives each year and how much of that flows out to sea. These are approximate figures only.

  • Water consents: where does water come from?

    The split between surface water and groundwater

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    Consented water by source

    Relative volumes
    Amount available to consent Surface water:
    {{waterSource.surfacewater}}
    available to consent         Groundwater:
    {{waterSource.groundwater}}
    available to consent
    Volume consented Surface water:
    {{surfaceWaterConsented()}}
    volume consented         Groundwater:
    {{groundwaterConsented()}}
    volume consented
    Source Amount available to consent Volume consented Consented as a percentage of available
    surface water ground water {{item.source}} {{item.amountAvailable}} {{item.volumeConsented}} {{item.percentageConsented}}
    {{waterSource.total.source}} {{waterSource.total.amountAvailable}} {{waterSource.total.volumeConsented}} {{waterSource.total.percentageConsented}}

    The table above shows how much water is available to use compared with the amount that is actually consented for use. It also shows how much of this water is surface water and how much is groundwater.

    The Proposed Gisborne Freshwater Plan was notified in October 2015. So far allocation limits have only been set for sources in the Waipaoa Catchment.

    The collecting of information for the next two catchment plans is currently underway - the Waiapu and the Motu Catchments.

  • Water consents: How is water used?

    Consents by use in this region

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    Annual consented water use by type

    Overall annual volume for {{waterAvailable.year}}
    Relative breakdown
    Activity Percentage of total consented Total volume Number of consents
    {{item.displayText}} {{item.displayText}} - - No data available {{item.breakdownPercentage}}% {{item.totalVolume}} {{item.numberOfConsents}}
    Total {{waterUsage.total.percentageConsented}}% {{waterUsage.total.totalVolume}} {{waterUsage.total.numberOfConsents}}

    The above table shows the proportion of water consented for irrigation, industrial, stock, town supply and other. It excludes hydro electricity. In this region/management zone {{hydroUsage.totalVolume}}/year is consented for hydro-electricity and makes up {{hydroUsage.percentageConsented}}% of the total water volume consented for this region/management zone

    The Waipaoa River allocation limit under the Waipaoa Catchment Plan for Block A is 2000 litres per second. This total allocation limit takes into account factors such as minimum flows, flow variability and in-stream values to balance the reliability of supply. This allocation limit is about to be reached taking into account new consents received by Council in the Waipaoa Catchment.

 Surface Water Zones
Surface Water zones in the Gisborne region

Select the water management zone you'd like to see information on by clicking the buttons below or navigate using the map.

Greater Waipaoa Surface Water

23 Sites
Gisborne East Coast Surface Water

39 Sites
Groundwater Zones
Groundwater management zones in the Gisborne region

Select the groundwater management zone you'd like to see information on by clicking the buttons below or navigate using the map.

Greater Waipaoa Groundwater

53 Sites

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