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Manawatū-Whanganui region

Surface Water Zone: Whangaehu

The Whangaehu River catchment covers an area of 1992 square kilometres. The mainstem of the Whangaehu River is 202 kilometres with a total stream length in the catchment of 3326 kilometres. The Whangehu catchment has two main tributaries; the Mangawhero (126 kilometres) and the Makotuku (36 kilometres) Rivers. The headwaters of the Wangaehu River are the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu on the Central Plateau. The river enters the Tasman Sea 8 kilometres southeast of Whanganui.

The water allocation framework manages impacts of the allocation on water body values including consumptive uses by setting minimum flows and allocation limits for each sub-zone. Because this is a Lake zone the Proposed One Plan rules (13-8 and 13-9) relating to abstractions from lakes and wetlands applies to this zone. For the Upper Whangaehu (Whau_1a), Middle Whangaehu (Whau_2), Lower Whangaehu (Whau_3a) and the Coastal Whangaehu (Whau_4) the minimum flow was set at 80% of the MALF for the respective flow monitoring sites. For the Waitangi Stream (Whau_1b) – the minimum flow was set at 85% of the MALF for Waitangi at Tangiwai. For the Tokiahuru Stream (Whau_1c) - the minimum flow was set at 80% of the MALF for Tokiahuru at Whangaehu Junction. The minimum flows for the Upper Makotuku River (Whau_3b) and the Makara Stream (Whau_3f) were set as recommended in by the IFIM study which was( based on the habitat suitability criteria to retain 70% of feeding habitat for juvenile to small adult brown trout and 70% of brown trout spawning habitat). (Hay, 2007). Lower Makotuku (Whau_3c) – the minimum flow was set at 85% of the MALF for Makotuku at Raetihi. Upper and Lower Mangawhero (Whau_3d and Whau_3e) - the minimum flow was set at 85% of the MALF for the respective flow monitoring sites.

Water Use
Surface Water in this Zone

Regional councils collect information about how much water is available and manage resource consents for those wishing to take water from rivers and streams. Use the buttons below to view 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}} Surface Water available: {{waterSource.availableToAllocate}} Irrigation
{{waterUsage.irrigationLabel}} Industrial
{{waterUsage.industrialLabel}} Stock
{{waterUsage.stockLabel}} Hydroelectrical
{{waterUsage.hydroLabel}} Town supply
{{waterUsage.drinkingLabel}}
  • How much surface water is there in this zone?

    Rainfall and flow in this surface water zone

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    Rainfall and runoff

    Relative breakdown 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 water management zone receives each year and how much of that flows out to sea. These are approximate figures only.

  • Water consents: How much water is consented and used?

    Surface water available to consent

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    Consented water in this surface water zone

    Use the tables below to look at how much water is available compared with how much is actually consented within this water management zone. Click the plus to expand subzones where available

    {{item.zoneId}}
    Comparing consents and use
    Amount available to consent In this surface water management zone:
    {{item.data.totalAvailableAmount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}}
    available to consent
    Amount consented
    measured and non measured
    Amount used (measured)
    Amount Units Consented or used as a percentage of available
    Total available to consent {{item.data.totalAvailableAmount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableAmount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}}
    Total consented {{item.data.totalConsented.amount}} {{item.data.totalConsented.amount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}} {{item.data.totalConsented.percentText}}
    Total consented and measured {{item.data.totalMeasured.amount}} {{item.data.totalMeasured.amount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}} {{item.data.totalMeasured.percentText}}
    Total measured amount used {{item.data.totalAmountUsed.amount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}} {{item.data.totalAmountUsed.percentText}}
    Total measured volume used {{item.data.totalAnnualVolumeUsed}} {{item.data.totalAnnualVolumeUnits}}

    The table above shows the amount of water that is available for use compared to the amount that has been consented. The ‘Total Consented’ and ‘Total Consented and Measured’ fields are based on percentages of the ‘Total available to Consent’ field. If this field is not populated no data will be displayed. Some consents require actual use to be monitored and this is presented as 'Total measured volume Used' where available.

  • Water consents: How is consented water used?

    Consents by use in this surface water zone

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    Consented water

    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}} m3 {{item.numberOfConsents}}
    Total {{waterUsage.total.percentageConsented}}% {{waterUsage.total.totalVolume}} m3 {{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}} m3/year is consented for hydro-electricity and makes up {{hydroUsage.percentageConsented}}% of the total water volume consented for this region/management zone

Sites

Monitored sites in this Zone

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