Abstraction

Marlborough groundwater is used for a variety of purposes including crop irrigation, drinking, stock, wine or food processing, industrial and municipal water supply.

Abstraction patterns have dramatically changed over the past 30 years, with traditional mixed farming or horticulture having largely been replaced by viticulture on the lowland plains. While the same area of grape plants use less water than crops such as pasture or peas, the irrigated area today is far larger than the irrigated area, say, in 1970.

The map shows the distribution of consented water use, with most demand concentrated on the Wairau Plain.