No.24 2007

Water Resources Archive: the backbone  The Water Resources Archive, managed by NIWA, provides the backbone for many water resource management decisions. Data are used in many studies with direct economic benefit, such as the operation of hydropower facilities, resource investigation of alternative energy sources, and mitigation and preparedness for climate extremes such as floods and droughts. The Water Resources Archive comprises the National Hydrometric and the National River Water Quality networks and databases.

EDENZ – accessing historical data
 
An example of EDENZ long-run data – river flow.
“How has the level of that river fluctuated since irrigation-take began six years ago?”
EDENZ provides archived data of river flows, river levels, rainfall, plus climate and some air quality data, for downloading, while
near-real-time data can be viewed. Data from NIWA’s sea level monitoring network is also available.
Since EDENZ data became freely available recently, use has increased by about 800%.

Water Resources Explorer – mapping data resources
Screenshot of the Water Resources Explorer New Zealand (WRENZ) website.
Want to know a catchment’s sediment yield, runoff, or rainfall?
Interested in river water quality or flood frequency?
Keen to find the best rivers for kayaking?
NIWA scientist Dr Ude Shankar has developed a ‘Google Mashup’ to answer such questions quickly and easily for all rivers in New Zealand.

Water resources outlook (September - November)
Northern North Island: Normal soil moisture levels and river flows are likely.
Southeastern North Island: Normal or above normal soil moisture levels and above normal river flows are likely.
Southwestern North Island & Northern South Island: Normal or below normal soil moisture levels and river flows are likely.
Southwestern & eastern South Island: Below normal soil moisture levels and river flows are likely.

Water resources review (June - August)
River flows
June - August river flows
River flows over the last 3 months were below normal for South Island east coast, Wellington and North Island East Cape. Northland, Hawke’s Bay and southwest South Island had above normal flows. Flows elsewhere were normal.
[Water resources information provided by NIWA field teams, regional and district councils, and hydropower companies.]