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Story: Water resources

Central Otago drought, 2003

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Central Otago drought, 2003

The driest places in New Zealand are southern inland areas. In Central Otago, potential evaporation always exceeds precipitation (rainfall or snow), except in winter. This means that drought conditions are almost continuous.

Using this item

Otago Daily Times

Reference: 28 December 2003

by Craig Baxter

Permission of the Otago Daily Times must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Mike Scarsbrook and Charles Pearson, Water resources – Water supply, floods and droughts, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/18152/central-otago-drought-2003 (accessed 24 June 2026).

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