In January, we upgraded our lake level recorder at the Glenorchy boat ramp to help improve the reliability of the information we collect about Lake Whakatipu level changes.
The existing solar-powered water level recorder was raised an extra 2.1 metres to ensure it keeps monitoring during very high lake levels.
The near real-time information ORC receives from its 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.
Data from environmental monitoring (e.g. rainfall, river flow and lake levels) is also used to alert Emergency Management Otago of potential flooding to assist with a response.
It also complements ORC’s 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 and data on a number of other environmental parameters can be viewed on our Environmental Data Portal.
