The Waitaki River is a large braided river on the South Island of New Zealand. It drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs 209 kilometres (130 mi) south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast. It starts at the confluence of the Ōhau and Tekapo rivers, now at the head of the artificial Lake Benmore, these rivers being fed by three large glacial lakes, Pukaki, Tekapo, and Ōhau at the base of the Southern Alps. The Waitaki flows through Lake Benmore, Lake Aviemore and Lake Waitaki, these lakes being contained by hydroelectric dams, Benmore Dam, Aviemore Dam and Waitaki Dam.[1] The Waitaki has several tributaries, notably the Ahuriri River and the Hakataramea River. It passes Kurow and Glenavy before entering the Pacific Ocean. The River lends its name the Waitaki District on the south side of the river bank.
The river's flow is normally low in winter, with flows increasing in spring when the snow cloaking the Southern Alps begins to melt, with flows throughout the summer being rainfall dependent and then declining in the autumn as the colder weather begins to freeze the smaller streams and streams which feed the catchment. The median flow of the Waitaki River at Kurow is 356 cubic metres per second (12,600 cu ft/s).[2]
The first major infrastructure improvements to the river were made between 1881 and 1914 with the construction of road and rail bridges at Kurow and Waitaki Bridge.
The middle of the river bed formed a traditional political boundary between Canterbury and Otago. The term "south of the Waitaki" is often used to refer to the Otago and Southland regions as one common area (the two regions share historical and ethnic relationships which make them distinct from the regions to the north of them).
The river is popular for recreational fishing and jetboating.
^Waitaki River, An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 26-Sep-2006.
^Waitaki Catchment Hydrological Information, Table 3.2 Waitaki Catchment - Flow Statistics at Flow Recording Sites, February 2005, Ref. ME582, Ministry for the Environment website, retrieved 22 November 2007.
The WaitakiRiver is a large braided river on the South Island of New Zealand. It drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs 209 kilometres (130 mi) south-east...
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Tekapo, this forming part of the ultimate headwaters of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Godley River. v t e...
in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the WaitakiRiver, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which...
artificial lake. Located in the South Island of New Zealand and part of the WaitakiRiver, it was created in the 1960s by construction of Benmore Dam. The lake...
the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the WaitakiRiver (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific...
several states, US Project Aqua, a proposed hydroelectric scheme for the WaitakiRiver, New Zealand Agua (disambiguation) Aquagrill, a seafood restaurant in...
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New Zealand. A major tributary of the WaitakiRiver, it flows for 70 kilometres (43 mi) before joining the river from the northeast just below the town...
Zealand's South Island, part of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme. Immediately upstream is Lake Benmore and downstream Lake Waitaki. Aviemore lies on both sides...
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river systems comprising a series of dams and powerhouses are situated on the following rivers: The Waikato River The WaitakiRiver The Clutha River Other...
region, the WaitakiRiver, is also heavily utilised for hydroelectricity, though the region's current official boundaries put much of that river's catchment...
in the North Island and the parts of the South Island north of the WaitakiRiver, and the Synod of Otago and Southland, founded by Free Church settlers...
(1966), the 700 MW Manapouri power station (1971), the 848 MW Upper WaitakiRiver Scheme (1977–85) and the 432 MW Clyde Dam (1992). By the mid-1990s,...
plain (part of the Taieri River water catchment) and the northern foothills of the Kakanui Mountains (part of the WaitakiRiver catchment). Much of the...
glacial Lake Pukaki, this forming part of the ultimate headwaters of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme. In 2019 a report was released giving the results...
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