Map of lowland areas for category 2 surface waterbodies in the Wellington Region for the management of rivers and streams in productive rural lowland areas.Pertains to Policy P99: Livestock access to surface water bodies and Rule R97: Access to the beds of surface water bodies by livestock - permitted activity. Other provisions may apply, please consult the Plan for further details.This feature class is derived from the New Zealand Land Resource Inventory (NZLRI) and the Land Cover Database v4 (2012), both produced by Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua. In particular it is based on the land use capability layer which makes an assessment of the productive capability of land areas based on the underlying geology, soil type, slope angle, erosion susceptibility and vegetative cover. Slope classes A, B & C (under 16 deg) and soil classes 1-4 (arable land) were classified for inclusion in the area. Slope classes D,E, F & G (over 16 deg) and soil classes 5-8 (non-arable land) were excluded.It was created by first eliminating discrete polygons with slope classes below 15 degrees, occurring within broader areas above 16 degrees, using the dissolve tool. Likewise, islands of land over 16 degrees smaller than 15 square kilometres sitting within lowland areas under 16 degrees were eliminated. Then complex, crenulated areas were rounded off with the simplify and smooth polygon tool. The whole delineation was then checked for accuracy and aligned where necessary to conform to slopes under 16 degrees with arable soils classes four and under.
