A Raineffects water resource assessment aims to present the starting point for the supply of infrastructure to meet expected needs. This assessment covers demand, environment, social and risk.
It means assessing available water resources in measured and unmeasured catchments given current water takes, Resource Management Act (RMA) and local plan constraints, and possibilities for future water takes.
The warming climate is increasing the risks of both flood and drought. Recent record floods, such as in Australia, were driven in part by the human-influenced trend toward heavy rainfall.
Raineffects Flow and Rainfall Data Analysis includes calculating flow and rainfall statistics, high and low flow and rainfall frequencies, trends, floods and droughts.
Water storage ranges from the natural (groundwater aquifers, soil water, natural wetlands) to the artificial, (ponds, tanks, reservoirs). Water storage in an era of climate change and increasing rainfall variability is a challenge.
Raineffects water storage analysis includes inflow assessments, design flood inflows and hydrographs and usable storage.