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Waiau River
Originating in the Spenser Mountains, the Waiau River has the second largest catchment (3,310 km2 click to see interactive map) of North Canterbury’s rivers.
Waiau River looking east from Hanmer Springs along the Hope Valley towards the Spenser Mountains (top right)
Several tributaries feed into the river. The Lewis River, which parallels sections of the main highway from Canterbury to the West Coast across the Main Divide, the Doubtful River, which joins the Waiau at Amuri Pass, the Hope River, and the Hanmer, Mason, and Leader Rivers. The landscape of the headwaters upstream of the Waiau-Hope junction was glaciated until around 10,000 years ago, providing the rich supply of gravels need for a braided river. The east-west sections of the Hope, Waiau, and Hanmer Rivers lie along the Hope Fault, a major geological feature of the South Island. At Glen Wye Station, the 1888 earthquake broke and displaced fences 2.5m horizontally across the fault. This was the first conclusive evidence in the world of horizontal fault movements.
Waiau River, Hope Valley near Hanmer Springs
Crossing the southern edge of the Hanmer Plains, the Waiau River flows through a gorge to emerge onto the northern part of the Culverden Plains. Before reaching the sea, the river cuts through two more gorges, both of which have been investigated as possible sites for hydro-electric dams. The Waiau River enters the Pacific just north of Cheviot township. Typical of braided rivers, it forms a small lagoon and estuary system at the river mouth.
Bird surveys
- Bird Survey 2017 (including pages from 2009, 2010, and 2016 as an xls spreadsheet)
- Bird Survey 2016 (PDF)
- Bird survey 2008-2010 (xls file)
- Survey maps 2010 (Word file)
Conservation activities
- Under the Braided Rivers Partnership Programme, BRaid installed traps around a colony of black-fronted terns at Shark Tooth. The traps were checked by Amuri Jet over the 2016/17 breeding season. Diary notes detailing the outcome and recommendations are available here.
- Waiau River Care Group formed in 2013 to help protect populations of black-fronted terns and black-billed gulls that nest on the riverbanks near Waiau township
More information
- Catchment map and monitored sites Includes scientific indicators for water quality (LAWA: Land Air Water Aotearoa – Waiau)
- Zone Committee meeting dates and venues Anyone interested in water management and use in this region should attend these public meeting
- River Report 24-hour Infoline
- Hurunui and Waiau Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP)
* ‘Main Divide’ refers to the area of the Southern Alps that divides the water catchments of the eastern side of the island from those on the west coast. The Main Divide also forms the boundary between the Canterbury and West Coast Regions.
Research and reference material
- Canterbury Water Management Strategy
- Conservation strategy for New Zealand braided rivers: biodiversity values, issues and priority actions (DOC & Sanders Consulting PDF)
- Land Use Changes in Braided Rivers 1990-2012 (ECan)
- Braided River Ecology (DOC)
- Using models to understand and protect our braided rivers (Science blogs NZ June 2014)
- Modelling channel dynamics in braided rivers (NIWA February 2014)
- Braided River Systems – Ecosystems and Species in Crisis (PDF Forest & Bird p18)
- The impact of El Nino and La Nina on Canterbury water sources
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