Flood room status
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
Flood Room is monitoring
Updated at 2pm on Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Situation
The adverse weather that has affected our region, particularly in our southwest zones, has now passed.
Our focus now is on managing the water within the Waikato River Hydro System and understanding flows on the Waipā River system.
We sustained significant rainfall in the Awakino and Waitomo areas and, as a result, water levels on the Pūniu and Waipā rivers will remain high for several days.
River levels are now generally receding as catchment runoff moves through the river systems; however, river levels will take some days to recede to more normal levels for the larger river systems.
Lake Taupō outflows are still at maximum discharge (300 cumecs) with lake level steady at around 8cm below the consented maximum control level of 357.25 metres.
The Waikato River at Hamilton has been receding since last week, but is likely to remain above 14.0 metres over the next several days.
Waikato River levels downstream of Rangiriri have peaked and are now receding gradually.
The Waikato River at Ngāruawāhia is now steady at 11 metres (12.5 metres was the estimated peak).
The Waikato River at Huntly is now receding the water level is at 9.1 metres as of this afternoon.
All of this is contingent upon the catchments releasing water as anticipated, and it may be that event end times will vary. It is anticipated the region will experience relatively settled weather until at least Tuesday afternoon.
Waikato Regional Council and Mercury are continuously assessing and managing the Waikato Hydro system as we are in Phase 1 of the High Flow Management Plan.
Please keep up to date with the current MetService weather forecasts and messages from local civil defence.
Visit our Environmental Data Hub for the latest river level and rainfall accumulations.
MetService forecast
There are no Watches or Warnings for the Waikato region.
The current forecast is for relatively settled weather until Sunday.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
There are no Thunderstorm Watches or Warnings for the Waikato region.
For information preparing for and keeping safe during a storm, see the National Emergency Management Agency's Get Ready website.
Likely/potential Impacts
Rivers and lakes
River levels are now generally receding as catchment runoff moves through the river systems; however, river levels will take some days to recede to more normal levels.
Lake Taupō outflows are still at maximum discharge (300 cumecs) with lake level steady at around 8cm below the consented maximum control level of 357.25 metres.
The Waikato River at Hamilton has been receding since peaking since last week, but is likely to remain above 14.0 metres over the next several days.
Waikato River levels downstream of Rangiriri has peaked and begun receding since last Friday (17 October).
The Waikato River at Ngāruawāhia is now receding with a river level of 11 metres as of this morning.
The Waikato River at Huntly is now receding with a river level of 9.1m as of this afternoon.
Wind
There are no Wind Watches or Warnings in force 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 rainfall about the hill country and ranges of the region. This may heighten the risk of landslip and 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 managed flood infrastructure has withstood the challenges of the recent weather. Our local operations staff will remain on standby to monitor flood schemes and our drainage schemes.
We closed the Whangamarino Control Gates on Thursday (16 October) to prevent back flow from the Waikato River into the Whangamarino Wetland. The control gates will be re-opened when the Waikato River level is dropped below the level in the wetland.
Please note, drainage schemes will take time to return to the pre-event conditions. Rest assured our local operations staff are monitoring.
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 before 1pm on Wednesday, 22 October, or earlier 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.
