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Wellington Region

Groundwater Zone: Kāpiti Coast

The Kāpiti Coast Groundwater Zone lies in the northwestern part of the Wellington region, bounded by the Porirua Harbour catchment to the south and the Manawatu-Wanganui region boundary to the north. It occupies an area of 694 square kilometres and makes up 9 percent of the total region area. The zone lies beneath a coastal plain, harbouring a productive groundwater resource and numerous significant wetlands, as well as the catchments of the Waikanae and Ōtaki rivers that extend into the Tararua Range.

The coastal margin of this zone can be characterised as a single, connected groundwater resource. The Kāpiti Coast Groundwater Zone is recharged both by rainfall and flow loss from the Ōtaki River, the Waikanae River, smaller streams including the Mangaone, Waitohu and Whareroa, as well as numerous, regionally significant wetlands.

Some of the water-bearing aquifer units are quite productive and support municipal supply takes. However, under heavy pumping significant drawdowns occur and numerical modelling indicates the effects of these drawdowns can propagate a long distance from the abstraction point and have the potential to detrimentally impact surface water bodies (especially wetlands and small streams).

In addition to consented abstractions, there are also an estimated 4000 shallow bores in the Waikanae/Paraparaumu area that are used primarily for garden watering. Collectively, these un-consented takes put further pressure on the water resources. Saltwater intrusion resulting from groundwater drawdown along the Kāpiti Coast is an established ongoing risk but, to date, has not been observed.

Management in this zone is focussed on treating the surface and groundwater systems as a connected resource.  While four groundwater sub-zones have been created to help manage allocation limits, the linkages between these sub-zones and with surface waters zones is explicitly considered at the whole zone scale.

Water Use
Groundwater in this zone

Regional councils collect information about how much water is available and manage resource consents for those wishing to take water from groundwater supplies. Use the buttons below to view regional information on: how much water is available, where it comes from and how its used.

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Groundwater available: {{waterSource.availableToAllocate}} Irrigation
{{waterUsage.irrigationLabel}} Industrial
{{waterUsage.industrialLabel}} Stock
{{waterUsage.stockLabel}} Hydroelectrical
{{waterUsage.hydroLabel}} Town supply
{{waterUsage.drinkingLabel}}
  • Groundwater in this zone
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    Groundwater in this zone

    Accurately estimating the total amount of water available in a groundwater management zone is not currently possible. Regional Councils are working with the Ministry for the Environment on the best way to calculate this figure. We will include these figures on LAWA when they become available. In the meantime, for more information about a particular groundwater management zone, contact your regional council.

    Values for water availability have not yet been provided. Greater Wellington Regional Council is in the process (as at June 2015) of notifying a new Regional Plan that will contain proposed allocation limits.  When this Plan is notified the proposed limits will be used to update the empty fields.

  • Water consents: How much water is consented and used?

    Groundwater available to consent

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    Consented water in this groundwater zone

    Use the tables below to look at how much water is available compared with how much is actually consented within this water management zone. Click the plus to expand subzones where available

    {{item.zoneId}}
    Comparing consents and use
    Amount available to consent In this groundwater management zone:
    {{item.data.totalAvailableAmount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}}
    available to consent
    Amount consented
    measured and non measured
    Amount used (measured)
    Amount Units Consented or used as a percentage of available
    Total available to consent {{item.data.totalAvailableAmount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableAmount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}}
    Total consented {{item.data.totalConsented.amount}} {{item.data.totalConsented.amount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}} {{item.data.totalConsented.percentText}}
    Total consented and measured {{item.data.totalMeasured.amount}} {{item.data.totalMeasured.amount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}} {{item.data.totalMeasured.percentText}}
    Total measured amount used {{item.data.totalAmountUsed.amount}} {{item.data.totalAvailableUnits}} {{item.data.totalAmountUsed.percentText}}
    Total measured volume used {{item.data.totalAnnualVolumeUsed}} {{item.data.totalAnnualVolumeUnits}}

    The table above shows the amount of water that is available for use compared to the amount that has been consented. The ‘Total Consented’ and ‘Total Consented and Measured’ fields are based on percentages of the ‘Total available to Consent’ field. If this field is not populated no data will be displayed. Some consents require actual use to be monitored and this is presented as 'Total measured volume Used' where available.

    Values for water availability have not yet been provided. Greater Wellington Regional Council is in the process (as at June 2015) of notifying a new Regional Plan that will contain proposed allocation limits.  When this Plan is notified the proposed limits will be used to update the empty fields.

  • Water consents: How is consented water used?

    Consents by use in this groundwater zone

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    Consented water in this zone

    Overall annual volume for {{waterAvailable.year}}
    Relative breakdown
    Activity Percentage of total consented Total volume Number of consents
    {{item.displayText}} {{item.displayText}} - - No data available {{item.breakdownPercentage}}% {{item.totalVolume}} m3 {{item.numberOfConsents}}
    Total {{waterUsage.total.percentageConsented}}% {{waterUsage.total.totalVolume}} m3 {{waterUsage.total.numberOfConsents}}

    The above table shows the proportion of water consented for irrigation, industrial, stock, town supply and other. It excludes hydro electricity. In this region/management zone {{hydroUsage.totalVolume}} m3/year is consented for hydro-electricity and makes up {{hydroUsage.percentageConsented}}% of the total water volume consented for this region/management zone

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Monitored sites in this Zone

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