Flood room

Flood room status

Flood room - monitoring

Flood Room is monitoring. For information on current river levels, flows and rainfall accumulations, please visit our Environmental Data Hub.

What the status levels mean

Status: The weather is looking good and there are no risks of severe weather in the immediate forecast.

Action: Members of the Regional Flood Response team (including engineers, rivers and drainage operations, planning, communications and emergency management) continue their day jobs as part of their everyday mahi at Waikato Regional Council. A Regional Flood Coordinator and Regional Flood Liaison Officer are on duty 24 hours a day, maintaining an overview of river levels, weather patterns and forecasts affecting the Waikato.
Status: MetService has issued severe weather alerts or the weather forecast and/or catchment conditions could impact our schemes and/or the community.

Action: A Regional Flood Coordinator and Regional Flood Liaison Officer maintain an overview of river levels, weather patterns and forecasts affecting the Waikato. They will closely monitor the weather situation, environmental data and provide information to supporting agencies (such as civil defence, local councils and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi) on potential impacts to assist with their planning and response.
Status: The weather is severe and there is a high risk of flooding and/or related natural hazards.

Action: Waikato Regional Council's flood response is scaled up with additional staff and resources deployed in the field, as well as in the office to manage flood schemes and provide information to civil defence and other agencies.

The Flood Room is monitoring

Updated at 10am on Saturday, 12 July 2025

Situation

There are no Severe Weather Alerts for the Waikato region and the amount of rain forecast by MetService was not reached for the July 11/12 rain event. Some localised showers, some heavy, may occur over Saturday 12 July.

Mercury and Waikato Regional Council are still in Phase 1 of the Waikato Hydro Scheme High Flow Management Plan and will likely remain for at least the next week. Phase 1 means we are working together to manage flows from Lake Taupō and Karāpiro Dam to minimise impacts of future significant rain events on both Lake Taupō and downstream of Karāpiro Dam. Lake Taupō gates will be at maximum discharge of 300 cubic metres per second (cumecs) - for at least the next few weeks.

Waikato River levels will be elevated downstream of Karāpiro Dam, but will reduce over the coming days as Karapiro discharge reduces.

Catchments are still very saturated and so we will continue Flood Room in Monitoring status.

Please keep up-to-date with MetService weather forecasts and messages from Civil Defence Emergency Management.

For up-to-date information in your specific area please contact your local CDEM, see links below.

Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.

MetService forecast

There are no MetService weather alerts for the Waikato region at this time.

Changes to the weather can occur quickly, so please keep up-to-date with the latest forecasts. For national severe weather information, MetService is New Zealand’s only authorised provider of Severe Weather Alerts.

Severe Thunderstorms

Severe thunderstorm watches or warnings may be issued by MetService at short notice so please be alert for and act on these without hesitation – do not wait for further analysis by Waikato Regional Council.

For information on preparing for and keeping safe during a storm, see the National Emergency Management Agency's Get Ready website.

Likely/potential Impacts

Rivers and lakes

With saturated catchments and already elevated river levels across the Waikato, further rain will flow off the catchments with water courses rising quickly. As well as rising water courses and surface flooding, landslide susceptibility will also increase in some areas.

Due to the catchment and river conditions on the Waipā and Waikato Rivers, water levels will be elevated and will likely reach levels similar to last week and NOT the potential higher levels due to the forecast rain. Peak levels on the Lower Waikato river may not be reached until Sunday or Monday and may persist for some days after.

We will better understand potential water levels for the lower Waikato River (Ngāruawāhia to Port Waikato) over the next few days and our technical experts will be able to provide more certainty.

Wind

There are no wind watches or warnings for the Waikato region. Please keep up to date with information from your local power provider, the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and local civil defence.

Coastal impacts

There are unlikely to be any significant coastal impacts.

Land instability

Areas that would normally experience land instability may be affected by any localised downpours that develop about the hill country and ranges of the region. There is a heightened risk particularly for Waitomo and West Coast areas. People in these areas should remain vigilant for early warning signs of earth movement. Road users should plan ahead and keep up to date with the latest from their local council and the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

What we're doing

Waikato Regional Council flood and drainage schemes

Our local operations staff continue to monitor our flood protection and land drainage schemes. All our schemes are operational and ready for the next event.

Please note, drainage schemes will take time to return to the pre-event conditions.

Waikato Regional Council telemetry

Our telemetry network continues to provide real-time data on rainfall and river levels and is monitored 24/7 by our Regional Flood Response team. Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.

Next update

Flood Room will be updated by 5pm on Monday (14 July) or sooner if the situation changes.

New Zealand Flood Pics

New Zealand Flood Pics is a photographic archive of flooding for Aotearoa New Zealand which is currently hosted by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). It's free for anybody to upload or download flood photographs and your contributions are welcomed.

Go to New Zealand Flood Pics