Drainage Districts

Council has been involved with land drainage from the day its predecessor was formed in 1876. Over the years there have been 37 drainage schemes formed so that subsidised works could be carried out to either maintain or construct drainage works. The subsidies were from Government departments at the time that controlled the river control subsidies works.

At one stage the drainage schemes were disbanded and the entire district was rated to cover the costs for the individual drainage schemes. Individual schemes were later re-established and form the system we have today where the drainage schemes are rated on the contributing catchment. 

There are now 29 land drainage schemes lying outside the larger Raupo land drainage scheme with their own gates, stopbanks and maintenance requirements. 

The land drainage schemes are managed by KDC in conjunction with local stakeholders. There are also several drainage schemes without any hard infrastructure. For example, Tangowahine Valley and Manganui River are rivers that are maintained by KDC in conjunction with local stakeholders, spraying and cleaning of the banks as required.