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Taranaki region

Surface Water Zone: Patea

The Patea catchment has an area of 1042.7 square kilometres. It has two points of origin, the eastern hill country and Taranaki Maunga. They merge inland of Stratford and enter the sea in Patea.

There are fourteen surface water take consents in the Patea catchment for a variety of purposes. There are two takes for Stratford town water supply and one contingency take to supply water to the local swimming pool. There is one consent for meat and by-product processing and two water takes for pasture irrigation. These three consents all having requirements to cease taking water at determined levels set by their consent. Five consents are for the use in Hydrocarbon exploration processes, and two for Thermal Power Generation. The largest of the water take consents is for the use of Hydro electric, where all of the water above Patea Dam is stored in Lake Rotorangi and is discharged downstream of the Dam in the process of power generation. This means that the flow below the Dam is unnatural, as the flow is determined by the power generation, however there must always be a minimum flow of 2.1 cubic metres to ensure habitat for aquatic life.
There are also eight groundwater takes consents, with four being for town/community water supply, two for farm water supply, one for horticultural purposes and one for irrigation of golf courses.

The Patea catchment (upstream of the Mangaehu Stream confluence) is recognised in policies in the Regional Freshwater Plan as having high natural values. It is very popular and highly valued angling catchment and highly rated for its recreational, aesthetic and scenic values. The river (excluding Lake Rotorangi) is also identified as being of particular cultural, spiritual, historical and traditional interest to Ngati Ruanui Iwi.

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.

    Total allocated volume includes consented use only and no allowance has been made for 'permitted' use volumes.

  • 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.

    Due to the large number of streams and rivers in Taranaki, there has not been thorough investigations into all of the streams. The available water is ascertained as and when required for consenting requirements and investigations. However the Regional Freshwater Plan states that a minimum of two-thirds habitat at mean annual low flow is to be retained to protect the life-supporting capacity of the stream/river.

    The Council is currently reviewing the Regional Freshwater Plan and when this is implemented allocation limits will be included.

  • 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

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