Story: Water resources

New Zealand’s water cycle

Most of New Zealand’s precipitation is rain. A small amount of water remains as snow and ice, but most flows into rivers and lakes, or into aquifers under the ground. Only about 30% evaporates into the atmosphere, compared with 70% in many other countries.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Ministry for the Environment The state of New Zealand’s environment 1997

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How to cite this page

Mike Scarsbrook and Charles Pearson, Water resources – The hydrological cycle, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/18154/new-zealands-water-cycle (accessed 21 June 2026).

Story by Mike Scarsbrook and Charles Pearson, published 1 March 2009.

Comments

Robert William Raj. A
18 April 2017

Hi, The New Zealand’s water cycle presented here is not the actual water cycle. The water cycle is corrected and published. Have a look at it in the below link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWNgsNNt1YI Regards, Robert William Raj. A