Media release

ORC monitoring river and lake levels

Sunday 1 December 2019

A MetService heavy rain watch is currently in place for the Otago headwaters, with another period of heavy rain expected early in the coming week.

The Regional Council’s 24/7 duty flood officers will be monitoring the impact of rainfall on river and lake levels.

With high flows expected in the Clutha Mata-Au, Contact Energy Limited has advised that they are taking this opportunity to start lowering the water levels in Lake Roxburgh for flushing sediment within the lake. This will result in an increased flow from Roxburgh Dam starting today. It is not expected that the increased outflow from Roxburgh Dam will cause flooding along the Clutha River /Mata-Au downstream of the dam. In the longer term this is expected to reduce the flood hazard for Alexandra.

Stay up-to-date:
Twitter: @ORCfloodinfo
For up-to-date river flow and rainfall information at sites across Otago: www.orc.govt.nz/managing-our-environment/water/water-monitoring-and-alerts
MetService www.metservice.com