River Levels & Rainfall
The West Coast Regional Council collects rainfall and river level data from Karamea to Haast, with a flood monitoring service provided for the Karamea, Mokihinui, Buller, Grey, Hokitika and Waiho Rivers. This service uses the network of recording stations which transmit information via radio and cellular pathways to the Council’s computer database. We report this information alongside data collected from other sites managed by partner agencies such as the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
Data Portal
Data update frequency
Radio sites call in at 3 hourly intervals under normal conditions, though this frequency may be increased during weather events or when a site has gone through a stage alarm. At this time, Council staff will be closely monitoring the information transmitted by the recording station/s so may call in the data at shorter intervals.
Sites using cell phone network communication call in new data every 5 or 15 minutes under all conditions.
The website is continuously refreshed with new data once it arrives in the database.
To all users of this data
Please note:
- The rainfall and river level and flow data on the website is ‘raw’. It has come straight from external data providers and the council’s automatic telemetry system, so has not been through a quality control process. It should therefore be treated as preliminary data and may be subject to change.
- For more information or quality assured data please contact hydrologydata@wcrc.govt.nz with details of your request.
Related information
Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA): for access to a range of West Coast environmental data including air, ground water, lake water and river quality, land cover, and water quantity.
National Institute of Water and Atmosphere Research (NIWA): for access to major climate and environmental monitoring systems and forecasting tools.
