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A bit about what we do

Waikato Regional Council provides a drainage service for flat rural land in the Lower Waikato, Waipa, Central Waikato, West Coast and Waihou-Piako zones. There are about 1493 individual drains totalling 2063 kilometres in length within 84 separate drainage areas.

The drainage networks are essential to allow landowners to sustain pastoral farming and benefit some 172,000 hectares of land (about 7 per cent of the region’s area) by taking water off the land to river channels.

The council maintains the drains on behalf of the landowners, and this service is funded for by targeted land drainage rates. Other zone specific targeted rates are for catchment, flood protection, biosecurity and natural heritage works.

Related information

Drainage maps

View maps that show Waikato Regional Council's drainage scheme and supervisor areas, and maintained drains.

Land drainage management plan - August 2019

Read more about our land drainage areas, services and maintenance programmes.

Publications and reports

Try searching our publications area for more information! Narrow down your search by entering 'drainage' as a filter word.

Information for landowners and ratepayers - brochure

Each year we send a brochure to all landowners who are in our drainage areas and pay land drainage rates to Waikato Regional Council. The brochure provides key information about:

  • land drainage works carried out by the regional council
  • land drainage subcommittees
  • landowner responsibilities
  • health and safety.

It also notifies landowners about the routine maintenance spray programmes Waikato Regional Council carries out from October to April each year.

The brochure is below.