Water Act 2000

The outer bank, at any location on one side of a watercourse, is—

if there is a floodplain on that side of the watercourse—the edge of the floodplain that is on the same side of the floodplain as the watercourse; or

if there is not a floodplain on that side of the watercourse—the place on the bank of the watercourse marked by—

a scour mark; or

a depositional feature; or

if there are 2 or more scour marks, 2 or more depositional features or 1 or more scour marks and 1 or more depositional features—whichever scour mark or depositional feature is highest.

However, subsection (3) applies if, at a particular location in the watercourse—

there is a floodplain on one side of the watercourse; and

the other side of the watercourse is confined by a valley margin.Examples of valley margin—hill, cliff, terrace

Despite subsection (1)(b), the outer bank on the valley margin side of the watercourse is the line on the valley margin that is at the same level as the outer bank on the other side of the watercourse.

Despite subsections (1) to (3), if under this part the chief executive has declared an outer bank on a side of a watercourse for any length of the watercourse, the outer bank on that side of the watercourse for that length is the outer bank as declared by the chief executive.

To remove any doubt, it is declared that an outer bank of a watercourse—

can not be, or be a part of, an in-stream island, bench or bar located in the watercourse; and

can not be generally closer to the middle of the watercourse than any part of an in-stream island, bench or bar located in the watercourse.