We can't stop flooding but we can learn to live with it by being prepared.

Lake Wakatipu and Lake Wanaka are prone to flooding.  Major floods in 1995 and 1999 caused a lot of damage to the central business districts in Queenstown and Wanaka, and some residential areas in Kingston and Glenorchy.

Monitoring Lake Levels
Anyone can monitor the lake levels by visiting the Otago Regional Council website. 
>> River and rainfall information (external link)
>> Lake Wakatipu level (external link)
>> Lake Wanaka level (external link)

Lake levels are also physically monitored by Council staff during heavy rainfall. 

Trigger Levels
The first warning level is:

Lake Wakatipu – 310.8m
Lake Wanaka – 279.7m

Reaching this level does not mean there’s a flood.  It simply means that the Council will begin communicating with businesses and residents that could be affected by a flood and encouraging them to begin implementing their own flood management plan. 

The following brochures have some good simple advice on how to make plans to reduce possible effects of flooding on your building. 
>> What to do in a flood in the Queenstown Central Business District (pdf 323kb)
>> A guide to flood proofing your building and contents (pdf 530kb)
>> A guide to flood response in the Glenorchy township (pdf 321kb)

Learning to live with Flooding – joint risk management
In October 2006 the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Otago Regional Council adopted a joint risk management strategy for the Queenstown Lakes District.  
>> Joint Flood Risk Management Strategy for the communities of Lakes Wakatipu and Wanaka (pdf 1.02mb)
>> Flood inundation map one – Queenstown Central Business District (pdf 445kb)
>> Flood inundation map two – Wanaka Central Business District (pdf 463kb)
>> Flood inundation map three – Kingston (pdf 333kb)
>> Flood inundation map four – Glenorchy (pdf 358kb)