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There are calls for urgent action to find a way to store water as the country's South Island hydro lakes are overflowing.
It appears that less than six months after New Zealand was crying out for more water, a whole lot is now going to waste from Lake Benmore.
"In my opinion it's something of a waste. As anybody would of course, because the spilling of water simply means that water is not available in the future to generate power," says Associate Professor Earl Bardsley, an hydrology expert.
Almost all of the South Island's major hydro dams have reached capacity with water and winter's potential power savings are now running out to sea.
"They don't have a choice. Once the capacity of the lakes is exceeded then the water has to go over the top and there's nowhere else for it to go," says Bardsley.
After last year's woeful winter water levels energy experts want to see the surplus saved.
"Ideally if we had systems in place to have more increased storage in New Zealand then we could actually hold it back and use it on for power," Bardsley points out.
Farmers are also watching water being spilled from the hydro lakes and say they too could benefit.
"It's ironic that we have a drought on the eastern seaboard of both islands and here we have in the South this abundance of water," says Graeme Sutton of Irrigation New Zealand.
Federated Farmers says the spill at Lake Benmore highlights a need for better water storage systems and with better storage they believe summer paddocks around the country can stay green.
Spokesman Hugh Ritchie says more storage would be like a magic bullet for economic growth and transformation.
Ritchie says if only a small percentage of the water currently being wasted could be stored it was make a huge difference.
"We've got plenty of water in New Zealand but not always do we have it in the right place at the right time when it comes to irrigation," says Sutton.
The new Minister of Agriculture David Carter is currently looking into the issue.
"First of all it's identifying some lakes that potentially could be used now for water storage. It may involve the construction of dams," he says.
However with five years since the last major spillage there is no telling when the next big surplus might be.
