Wairau River

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wairau River
Course of the Wairau River

Course of the Wairau River

Data
location Marlborough District , South Island , New Zealand
River system Wairau River
source Mount Dora, Spenser Mountains
42 ° 9 ′ 9 ″  S , 172 ° 43 ′ 49 ″  E
Source height 1400  m
muzzle Cook Street coordinates: 41 ° 26 ′ 27 "  S , 174 ° 1 ′ 48"  E 41 ° 26 ′ 27 "  S , 174 ° 1 ′ 48"  E
Mouth height 0  m
Height difference 1400 m
Bottom slope approx. 8.3 ‰
length approx. 169 km
Wairau River, view from New Zealand State Highway 63

Wairau River, view from New Zealand State Highway 63 from

At 169 km, the Wairau River is the ninth longest river on the South Island of New Zealand . Taken literally, Wairau means "a lot of water ". The real meaning of the name is not clear.

geography

The river rises at the foot of the 2200  m high Mt Dora in the Spenser Mountains and drains an area of ​​over 2650 km 2 . The upper reaches of the river, also known as the Upper Wairau River , squeezes through a valley running to the north, which is bordered by the St. Arnaud Range in the west and the Raglan Range in the east . The Wairau George Gorge is particularly scenic. From 1881 to 1884 Jonathan Brough (1839-1927) built a road through the north running valley on behalf of the government and connected the valley of the Clarence River with that of the Wairau River.

After a third of its course and inflow of glacier water, the Wairau River bends in the mountain range of the Richmond Range and runs as the Lower Wairau River in a widening valley to the east towards the Pacific Ocean . There the river flows in two parts into Cloudy Bay . The largest town in the Weirau Plain is Blenheim on the east coast, the center of wine-growing in the Marlborough region .

use

At the time of the European settlement of New Zealand, the river landscape of the Wairau was forested and swampy. The first European settlers came to Nelson in 1842 and wanted to settle in the Wairau plain in the absence of good farmland. The first major conflict between European settlers and Māori , known as the Wairau tumult, delayed settlement of the landscape for years.

In addition to agriculture , the valley is also known for its viticulture , which produces high quality wines.

The Lower Wairau River , with its sandbanks and ramifications, is a popular fishing spot. The upper course is used for kayaking .

Environmental problem

Starting in 2004, the New Zealand electricity producer Trustpower planned to create an artificial canal along the Lower Wairau River , in which the branched river water would be used to generate electricity in five hydropower plants distributed along the length of the river . The NZ $ 275 million project is scheduled for completion in 2010. There were protests against this in 2006 because of fear of irreparable environmental damage caused by lower water levels in the original river bed . A decision on the building permit was issued in 2010, but the construction project was not implemented as of 2014.

literature

Web links

  • Christopher Cookson: Wairau River. Marlborough Online, January 26, 2015, accessed November 12, 2015 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fishing in the Lower Wairau River. nzfishing.com, accessed December 7, 2007 .
  2. ^ Wairau Valley Hydro Electric Power Scheme. Trustpower, archived from the original on October 14, 2008 ; accessed on November 12, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).
  3. ↑ Defects in TrustPower's Wairau proposals. Scoop Independent News, January 12, 2006, accessed September 21, 2014 .
  4. ^ Don't let TrustPower steal the Wairau. Scoop Independent News, June 12, 2006, accessed September 21, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Cherie Howie: Wairau power decision 'good news for irrigation scheme'. The Marlborough Express, December 1, 2010, accessed November 12, 2015 .
  6. ^ Trustpower Hydro Scheme - Wairau River Marlborough. APL Property, 2014, archived from the original on January 22, 2016 ; accessed on May 22, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).