Water monitoring

The development of policy on which sound water allocation and management decisions can be made requires adequate knowledge of water resources.

Data on all aspects of the water resource must be available, sometimes requiring detailed investigations such as those required to determine sustainable groundwater availability.

Rainfall data is an important component in the water balance. Any assessment of how much of a water resource can be taken out requires a determination of rainfall input. It is also used for flood prediction and design of stormwater infrastructure. Similarly data on stream flow is required to ensure development can occur while maintaining aquatic habitat. It also allows flows to be synthesised for use in areas where no data is available, and provides warning of flood hazard.

Once policies have been implemented through resource consents and their associated conditions, on-going monitoring of rainfall, stream flows, and groundwater levels is carried out by the Regional Council. This is to ensure the collective resource use from all users, even those who don't require consents, is sustainable. Access to this data is available through Environmental Data online.

Consent holders themselves are also required to monitor their activities, such as the quantity of water they use, and forward this information to the Regional Council.

With this water use information the Council is able to calculate the total volume actually being used and relate this to measured responses in water levels and flows. It can also ensure use remains within individual consent allocations, and the sustainable availability from the resource as a whole. Holders of consents for large quantities of water may also be required to monitor other effects of their activities, such as on groundwater levels or chemistry, should proximity to the coast pose a risk of saline intrusion.