How is lake and river level information used?
The near real-time information we receive from these recorders enhances our monitoring and response during heavy rainfall events and provides a longer-term dataset of baseline information we can use to analyse flooding hazards.
For example, during a heavy rain event that caused elevated river and lake levels across Otago in September 2023, we could see:
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the Rees River reach its highest flow (235 cumecs) since the installation of the flow recording station in December 2021.
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the Glenorchy Lagoon also reach its highest level (312.49 m) since monitoring of its levels began in October 2020.
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Lake Whakatipu reach a level of 310.83 m.
The water level recorder also helps us compare lake levels between the head of the lake and the NIWA monitoring station at Frankton.
Data from environmental monitoring (e.g. rainfall, river flow and lake levels) is used to alert Emergency Management Otago of potential flooding to inform a response.
It also complements our other flood response tools, such as flood forecasting models which can be used to forecast water levels for Lake Whakatipu and the Glenorchy Lagoon.
Near real-time data from the Glenorchy boat ramp water level recorder is available on the ORC’s Environmental Data Portal.
