Natural Environment Blog

The New Zealand government has announced that they will dedicate $13 million to upgrade flood protection Milford Sound in New Zealand.

Milford Sound is one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist spots. Flood protection seems like a good idea - Milford Sound receives over 8 meters of rain per year.

Given the fact that there is only one (narrow) road into the place, and one small airstrip, the impact of a flood on tourism could be huge. The $13 million isn’t a large amount given the area generates around $230 million per year from tourism.

But I like to think it’s more than protecting tourism dollars. Because of the natural beauty of Milford Sound, tourists to the area tend to become interested in the natural environment and the importance of looking after it.

New Zealand’s Tourism Minister, Damien Miller, says about the flood protection:

This means that we can continue to provide the best possible facilities to visitors, while also protecting the natural beauty of the sound.

Is it Really the Wettest Place?

At 8 meters of rain per year, Milford Sound is the wettest place in New Zealand. It is also one of the wettest places on earth.

There seems to be some conflicting reports on where the wettest place on earth is. Some say the wettest place on earth is in Hawaii. Others reckon it’s wetter somewhere in India. Either way, these places are wet!

What I mean by the “wettest place on earth” is the place that gets the most rain fall per year. So this automatically rules out Antarctica. Although over 90% of Antarctica is ice (i.e. frozen water), it hardly rains there. In fact it’s one of the driest places on earth!

Anyway, here’s a list of some of the wettest places on earth:

• Mount Wai-’ale-’ale, Kauai records an average of up to 13,000 millimeters of rain per year. Rain has been known to fall for up to 360 days per year!
  Mount Tutenendo, Colombia records up to 12,045 millimeters rain per year
• Lloro, Colombia has around 13,299 millimeters rain per year. Note that this rain fall is an estimated amount according to The National Climatic Data Center.
• Cherrapunji,north-eastern India gets an average rain fall of 10,820 millimeters per year. Note that most of this rain falls between June and August (known as the ’south-west monsoon’, or wet season).
• Mawsynram, India has been quoted by the American National Climatic Data Center as having an annual average rainfall of 11,871 millimeters . BBC Weather has quoted 11,877 millimeters . Note that Mawsynram is not far from Cherrapunji.
• Milford Sound in New Zealand gets an average of between 7,000 millimeters and 9,000 millimeters of rain each year. Also, Franz Josef Glacier is not far behind Milford Sound as far as rainfall goes. And I should know - I’ve experienced over 400 millimeters of it over night while sleeping in a tent there!

So, take your pick. If you’re looking for rain, any of these places should be able to deliver