Surface Water

Surface water comes from spring-fed streams, lakes and rivers, and is an important resource that Horizons works to protect.

 

As surface water becomes fully allocated, it’s important to manage this demand carefully to mitigate any impact on streams, lakes and rivers; well levels; the flow of seawater into groundwater supplies; and the effect on other users.

Water Quantity:

Water quantity monitoring is one of Horizons’ core monitoring programmes. We currently monitor rainfall at 46 sites, and continuous river level/flow at 65 sites.

On average an estimated 4,752,000 m³ is taken per day for hydroelectricity generation. All of this water comes from surface water sources. More than half is exported to Waikato as part of the Tongariro Power Scheme. The remainder is used for smaller power schemes.

 

Water Quality

Some lakes and rivers in the Region have declined to a point where it is risky to swim or gather food, and aquatic life is being affected. Our goal is to improve water quality in our Region. Through the One Plan we are targeting point source (end of pipe) pollution and non-point source pollution with new standards for discharges to water and septic tanks, and nutrient management on intensive farms.
Chapter 5 of the One Plan relates to water management in our Region and includes our objectives, policies and methods.
 

Water Allocation Status

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