2 Available Flow Data
2.1 Inventory of water level and flow recording sites
Tables 2.1 and 2.2 list all the water level and flow recording sites in the Waitaki Catchment that are included in NIWA's index to water-level recording sites in New Zealand as at 2004. Sites in bold font are part of the National Hydrometric Reference Network, and generally have records of higher data quality and are operated by NIWA or regional councils.
Table 2.2 shows the sites from the Power Archive. Note that this list is not the complete list of sites available in the Power Archive.
Sites for which data have been acquired for this project are shaded grey. These sites generally have more established (longer) records and/or provide coverage of certain parts of the Waitaki Catchment which lack long-term flow recorders.
Sites are listed in numerical order based on the site number in both tables.
2.2 Previous studies and references
Below is a list of the previous investigation reports and references used for this project:
- Project Aqua - Waitaki River Hydrology Study, Appendix AG to Project Aqua AEE, by JR Waugh et al, Opus International Consultants Ltd, April 2003
- Canterbury Strategic Water Study, by M Morgan et al, Lincoln Environmental, August 2002
- Lower Waitaki Catchment - Hydrology Report, by Ian Jowett, Hydrology Section, Power Directorate, MWD, November 1984
- Inventory of the Hydrology of the Waitaki River, by John Young, Waitaki Catchment Commission, September 1987
- Index to Hydrological Recording Sites in New Zealand, by Kathy Walter, NIWA, 2000.
2.3 Low flow data
As part of Environment Canterbury's recent investigation of the Waitaki Catchment hydrology, Environment Canterbury has prepared mean flow and low flow estimates for approximately 130 sites, both permanent and temporary, throughout the catchment. Data for the temporary sites typically comprise a series of spot gaugings, which are correlated with contemporaneous data from established permanent flow recording sites.
Flow parameters such as the mean annual low flow (MALF) and the five-year and 10-year seven-day low flows, have been estimated by Environment Canterbury for tributaries with long-term flow records. These low flow estimates are shown with the flow statistics in the Flow Data Tables in Section 4 of this report.
Table 2.1: NIWA index of water level recording sites in the Waitaki Catchment (2004)
View NIWA index of water level recording sites in the Waitaki Catchment (PDF 17 KB)
Table 2.2: NIWA index of power archive sites in the Waitaki Catchment (2004)
View NIWA index of power archive sites in the Waitaki Catchment (PDF 11 KB)
