Global InformationAhaura River information
| Ahaura River | |
|---|---|
 Ahaura River Bridge | |
| Location | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Tūtaekurī River and Waiheke River |
| • elevation | 270 m (890 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Ahaura River |
• elevation | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Length | 65 km (40 mi) |
The Ahaura River is in the South Island of New Zealand. This river drains the western flanks of the Southern Alps and flows into the Grey River.
The Ahaura and its many tributaries rise in the Lake Sumner State Forest park and enters the Grey River at the small settlement of Ahaura approximately 30 km upstream from Greymouth. It drains a huge area of land and in its lower reaches below the Haupiri confluence can have a tea-colour stain for much of the year. The reaches above the junction with the Haupiri tend to have very clear water however for much of the year.[1]
Other rivers in the catchment are the Nancy, Trent, Tutaekuri and Waiheke Rivers. They can all be kayaked, except in late summer and they are the most used rivers on the West Coast. The lower gorge has remnants of Chinese miners' gold diggings. Pack-tracks to Canterbury used to go through Amuri Pass into the Doubtful River Valley and by the Tūtaekurī to the Hope River. The Ahaura in the gorge is a wide, fast, shallow, braided river, with extensive grassy flats, surrounded by beech forest. Earthquake Rapid, is the largest rapid on the river. A 1981 survey described the scenic and recreational values of the gorge as exceptional.[2]
The river is only bridged by the Stillwater–Ngākawau Line and SH7.[3] A punt operated across the river from 1871[4] to 1879, when it was replaced by a bridge.[5] The first railway bridge opened in 1890.[6]
At the gorge the Ahaura's 7-day mean annual low flow is 26.45 m3 (934 cu ft) per second, the mean flow 99.77 m3 (3,523 cu ft) and the maximum recorded flow 3,972.06 m3 (140,272 cu ft).[7] On 26 December 1957 the flood gauge at the SH7 bridge reached 7.35 m (24.1 ft). The river's catchment is 870 km2 (340 sq mi).[8]
Gold digging started about 1865[9] and a small settlement of shanties had been built at Ahauru by January 1866.[10] 3,300 were reported to be at work in the area by March 1866[11] and a bridle path had been formed.[12]
The Ahaura Terraces and Nancys Clearing Ecological Areas were declared in 1997 to protect kahikatea and red beech (tawhai raunui) forests on the river's terraces, including kākāriki parakeets.[13]
- ^ "Ahaura River fishing-Ahaura River trout fishing-nzfishing". www.nzfishing.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ G. D. and J. H. Egarr (1981). "Recreational River Survey" (PDF). NIWA. ISSN 0110-4705.
- ^ "Ahaura, West Coast". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS. GREY RIVER ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 December 1871. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Grey River Argus". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 12 April 1879. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "THE OPENING OF AHAURA BRIDGE. Grey River Argus". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 September 1890. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "State of the Environment Summary 2018" (PDF). West Coast Regional Council.
- ^ "West Coast and Canterbury Flooding ( 1957-12-26 )". hwe.niwa.co.nz. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "THE WEST COAST GOLD-FIELDS. COLONIST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 December 1865. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "The Grey. Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 January 1866. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Nelson Evening Mail". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 17 March 1866. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Council Papers. NELSON EXAMINER AND NEW ZEALAND CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 April 1866. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Declaring Land to be Held as Ecological Areas West Coast". gazette.govt.nz. 1997. Retrieved 2 January 2023.