Takiwā

River Subcatchments

Parcels of land that drain to every segment of New Zealand's network of rivers and streams, derived from the River Environment Classification (REC). The REC classification system also groups rivers and subcatchments according to several environmental factors that strongly influence or cause the rivers’ physical and ecological characteristics (climate, topography, geology and land cover). Each subcatchment has an order, with a value of '1' representing a headwater (source), through to '8' representing the main branch of very large rivers. Higher order catchments also include the area of land associated with connected lower order catchments.