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Nelson region

Water Quantity

The five water management zones, Roding, Stoke, Maitai, Wakapuaka and Whangamoa represent the major catchments in the region from mountain source to the Waimea Estuary and Tasman Bay. All the groundwater in the region is in unconfined aquifers and therefore hydrologically linked to surface water.

The majority of the water extracted in Nelson is from surface water. The largest water takes are from the Maitai and Roding Rivers for the town water supply, both with respective water management zones. The Roding catchment is shared with the Tasman District Council. The Nelson population and reticulated water supply are concentrated in the southern part of the region, between the coast and the foothills. Industrial areas and water takes are also concentrated in the south, near the coast and the city centre, which include the Maitai and Stoke water management zones. Most of the groundwater that is extracted is for industrial purposes.

 

 The northern rural part of the region is a mixture of lifestyle blocks and pastoral farms predominantly in the lowland coastal flats, mostly grazed by beef cattle and sheep. Nelson has two relatively small dairy farms. The backhill country in the Maitai, Whangamoa and Wakapuaka is predominantly in exotic forestry. However, there are sizeable stands of native bush in all water management zones.

 

Technical work on the availability and allocation of surface water and groundwater is currently in progress, to support a review of the Nelson Resource Management Plan. Approaches to water management will depend on that technical information and consultation processes over the next year.

 

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 consent data provided by Nelson City Council on water allocation and use is based on the best information at the time. Work is underway to improve the data management of regional consents but in the meantime the data has been manually collated and not all variables are available for all consents. Where necessary, maximum rates have been derived from maximum daily or weekly volumes and vice versa. Similarly, annual water use amounts for some consents have been derived from average rates over all or part of a year. Work is underway to better understand the amount of groundwater available but at this stage that data is unavailable.

  • 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 consent data provided by Nelson City Council on water allocation and use is based on the best information at the time. Work is underway to improve the data management of regional consents but in the meantime the data has been manually collated and not all variables are available for all consents. Where necessary, maximum rates have been derived from maximum daily or weekly volumes and vice versa. Similarly, annual water use amounts for some consents have been derived from average rates over all or part of a year. Work is underway to better understand the amount of groundwater available but at this stage that data is unavailable.

 Surface Water Zones
Surface Water zones in the Nelson region

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

Maitai Water Management Zone

2 Sites
Wakapuaka Water Management Zone

1 Site
Whangamoa Water Management Zone

0 Sites
Stoke Water Management Zone

1 Site
Roding Water Management Zone

1 Site
Brook Stream Water Management Zone

1 Site
Groundwater Zones
Groundwater management zones in the Nelson region

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

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