Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown was 310.48m above sea level yesterday afternoon, just below its 310.80m flood alert.
Lake Wanaka was at 278.33m, more than 1m below its 279.4m alert level.
Lake Hawea, which is used for hydroelectricity storage, was at 343.18m, well below its controlled maximum limit of 346m.
Flooding could occur in Queenstown at 311.2m and in Wanaka at 280.2m.
The towns have not flooded since 1999, when Lake Wakatipu reached 312.78m and Lake Wanaka reached 281.3m.
The Otago Regional Council's water information website yesterday showed the heaviest recent rainfall in the Kawarau and Upper Clutha catchments occurred last Wednesday.
The sites that recorded the most rain at the weekend were Makarora, where 14.5mm fell in the 24 hours to 2.15pm yesterday (155mm in the last seven days); and at Paradise, where 15mm fell in the 24 hours to 2.15pm yesterday (128mm in the last seven days).
The Clutha River was flowing high at 440cumecs yesterday (alert level 600cumecs), forcing the Southern Lakes Triathlon and Multisport Club to switch its annual Clutha Kayak Classic Race to the Matukituki River (flowing at 131cumecs).
