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West Coast region

Water Quantity

The West Coast is one of the wettest regions in New Zealand with annual rainfall totals ranging from 2500mm to 13000mm. The region has an abundance of water and many very large river systems, aquifers and lakes and very little water allocated.

The main users of water in the region are, irrigation (for dairy farming ), Industrial use and drinking water supply, The region as a whole has very little in the way of allocation pressure,with the exception of several small scale hydro-schemes and some  irrigation in both the Mawheraiti River ( sub-catchment of the Grey River) and Inangahua River ( sub-catchment of Buller River) . The region can have the occasional dry period which puts pressure on smaller sub-catchments, but these events are not annual occurences and are usually only over a small area of the mid/northern part of the region.

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.

  • 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

Surface Water Zones
Surface Water zones in the West Coast region

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

Grey

10 Sites
Karamea

3 Sites
Inangahua

0 Sites
Hokitika

4 Sites
Haast

2 Sites
Buller

11 Sites
WestCoast

2 Sites
Waiho

1 Site
Mokihinui

2 Sites
Groundwater Zones
Groundwater management zones in the West Coast region

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

West Coast Groundwater

1 Site

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West Coast Regional Council
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