In response to heavy rain the Bay of Plenty Regional Council is warning Kaituna River users the Okere Gates will be fully opened to manage the level of Lake Rotoiti.

All commercial rafting on the Kaituna River will be closed down as the gates are likely to remain open all weekend.

'This first warning level for the Kaituna River is a low level warning with the river contained in the main channel with no risk of stopbank overtopping or breaches,” says BOPRC duty flood manager Roger Waugh.

The regional council will continue to monitor pump stations and waterways throughout the weekend and will provide updates to Civil Defence Emergency Management and local councils as required.

The forecasted rainfall overnight was concentrated west of Whakatane and through into the Rotorua Catchments, with rainfall totals exceeding 100mm in the last 24 hours at a number of the regional council's monitoring sites.

Metservice are forecasting the rain to ease around midday today but with further falls expected Sunday a weather warning remains in place.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council's latest rainfall summary report. Click on the image to view a larger version. Image: BOPRC