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River Notes Aotearoa

an independent guide to New Zealand rivers and the outdoors

Rivers

How New Zealand rivers work, how they are protected, and how to read them before a trip.

New Zealand rivers are short, steep and quick to rise. These notes cover the background: how a river gains legal protection, what the different kinds of conservation land mean, and how to use the river-flow and rainfall data that councils publish. If you came here from an old link to a river report or energy paper, those documents are not kept on this site.

  1. National · regional council dataReading river flow and rainfall data before a tripCouncils publish live river levels and rainfall for hundreds of sites. Here is how to find them, what a rising hydrograph is telling you, and the traps to avoid.
  2. National · West Coast exampleHow New Zealand protects a riverWater Conservation Orders, national parks and stewardship land do different jobs. The Mōkihinui River shows how they fit together.