Kāpiti Coast District Council Kāpiti Coast District Council
Search
  • Home
  • Rohe | District
  • Kaunihera | Council
  • Ratonga | Services
  • Ngā Kaupapa | What's On
  • Whakapā mai | Contact
  • Rohe | District
    • Aquatics
    • Beaches
    • Doing business in Kāpiti
    • Maps
    • Our community
    • Our Kāpiti
    • Visiting Kāpiti
    • Arts and culture
    • Civil Defence | Emergency Management
    • Libraries
    • Open spaces
    • Our environment
    • Mana Whenua
    • Aquatics
    • Arts and culture
    • Beaches
    • Civil Defence | Emergency Management
    • Doing business in Kāpiti
    • Libraries
    • Maps
    • Open spaces
    • Our community
    • Our environment
    • Our Kāpiti
    • Mana Whenua
    • Visiting Kāpiti
  • Kaunihera | Council
    • The role of Council
    • Our elected members
    • Our vision and direction
    • Documents
    • Projects
    • Partners
    • Our awards for environmental care
    • Central government reforms
    • Executive management
    • Meetings
    • Delivering for Kāpiti
    • Planning
    • Job vacancies
    • Local elections
    • Official Information Requests
    • The role of Council
    • Executive management
    • Our elected members
    • Meetings
    • Our vision and direction
    • Delivering for Kāpiti
    • Documents
    • Planning
    • Projects
    • Job vacancies
    • Partners
    • Local elections
    • Our awards for environmental care
    • Official Information Requests
    • Central government reforms
  • Ratonga | Services
    • A–Z council services and facilities
    • A–Z council services and facilities
  • Ngā Kaupapa | What's on
    • News
    • Everything Kāpiti e-newsletter
    • Calendar of meetings and forums
    • Kāpiti Schools Sports Programme
    • News archive
    • Have your say
    • Things to do in Kāpiti
    • Follow us
    • News
    • News archive
    • Everything Kāpiti e-newsletter
    • Have your say
    • Calendar of meetings and forums
    • Things to do in Kāpiti
    • Kāpiti Schools Sports Programme
    • Follow us
  • Whakapā mai | Contact
    • Contact us
    • Follow us
    • About this website
    • Official Information Requests
    • Council facilities opening hours
    • Antenno
    • Social Media terms of use
    • Online service request / Complaints
    • Contact us
    • Council facilities opening hours
    • Follow us
    • Antenno
    • About this website
    • Social Media terms of use
    • Official Information Requests
    • Online service request / Complaints
Search
Close
Hit enter to search or ESC to close
HomeNgā Kaupapa | What's OnNews archive2022Impacts of high groundwater
Ngā Kaupapa | What's On
  • Newskeyboard_arrow_down
  • News archivekeyboard_arrow_up
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • Previous years
  • Everything Kāpiti e-newsletterkeyboard_arrow_down
  • Have your saykeyboard_arrow_down
  • Calendar of meetings and forums
  • Things to do in Kāpitikeyboard_arrow_down
  • Kāpiti Schools Sports Programme
  • Follow us

Impacts of high groundwater

Next up in our closer look at groundwater, we breakdown the impacts of record rainfall over the last year causing significantly elevated groundwater levels across our district.

Average annual rainfall at the Paraparaumu Aerodrome is 1030 millimetres, but between August 2021 and August 2022, 1432 millimetres was recorded – the third highest annual total on record in over 80 years. Our water table is approximately 1 metre higher than it was at this time in 2021.

If you’ve looked out the window and seen ponding in your backyard during or after rain, you’re not alone. Current groundwater levels are impacting our land, infrastructure, and work programmes, as well as private property.

Roads and footpaths are degrading faster, pipes are being corroded, stormwater networks have diminished capacity and functionality, septic tanks are being infiltrated, and trees that can’t tolerate extended saturation are dying.

High groundwater levels are preventing or delaying access for maintenance, repairs, renewal works and capital works projects.

What can we do about it?

Unfortunately, there are no easy fixes but levels will drop given time. You can’t pump groundwater in the same way you can pump stormwater – there’s nowhere to pump it to, as it'll only return to the lowest lying areas.

We estimate we need 8–10 months without significant weather events to return to normal groundwater levels.

We’re working on a number of things to improve our stormwater network that will help the situation, too. This includes renewal and repairs, and continuing to work on our stormwater capital works programme.

Out of the 110 kilometres of open waterways in our district, we manage approximately 40 kilometres; Greater Wellington Regional Council is responsible for managing the rest. As part of our planned asset maintenance, we clear waterways regularly, so there's no flow restrictions during flooding. We also check our piped network using CCTV cameras, and clear blockages and carry out necessary repairs. 

If you experience standing water on your property, please be patient while it recedes. You can call a plumber or drainlayer for more advice.

Related links
  • Groundwater
  • Groundwater 101 – what is groundwater?
  • Learning to live with more water
  • Record rainfall for Kāpiti contributing to elevated groundwater levels (11 Nov 2022)

Hot topics

  • Grants, funding and awards
  • Maps
  • Public forum at Council
  • Recycling and rubbish
  • Sources and consumption rates
  • Recreational water quality

Quick links

  • Alcohol licences
  • Civil defence
  • Sports ground status
  • District Plan
  • Responses to Official Information Requests

Services & information

  • A–Z of services and facilities
  • Job vacancies
  • Information for businesses
  • Property information
  • Maps
  • Kāpiti Coast destination website

Get in touch  facebook  Instagram  Youtube

shielded

Kāpiti Coast District Council
175 Rimu Road
Private Bag 60601
Paraparaumu 5254

Phone: 04 296 4700
Toll free: 0800 486 486
Fax: 04 296 4830
[email protected]

page rip
© Copyright 2023 Kāpiti Coast District Council
SitemapAbout this websiteAccessibilityLegal Notices
NZ Government logo