Lake Waitaki
Waitaki Dam
Waitaki Dam
Location of Lake Waitaki
Location of Lake Waitaki
Lake Waitaki
LocationWaimate and Waitaki Districts, Canterbury region, South Island
Coordinates44°40′29″S 170°23′56″E / 44.67472°S 170.39889°E / -44.67472; 170.39889
Primary inflowsWaitaki
Primary outflowsWaitaki
Basin countriesNew Zealand
Surface elevation230 m (750 ft)

Lake Waitaki is the smallest, oldest and most downstream of the three man-made lakes on the Waitaki River, and forms part of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme in New Zealand's South Island. It lies downstream of lakes Aviemore and Benmore on the Waitaki River, close to the town of Kurow. It is part of the traditional boundary of the Canterbury and Otago regions (although the official border has been moved southward to include the entire lake, as well as the entire northwest portion of Waitaki District within the Canterbury Region.[1]

The lake is created by the Waitaki Dam, a 36m high concrete gravity dam built between 1928 and 1934. Waitaki Dam was the first hydroelerctic dam built on the Waitaki river. The Waitaki power station has a total installed capacity of 105MW.

Waitaki was the last dam built in New Zealand with excavation done with pick and shovel, not heavy machinery.[2] The power station is to be upgraded by Meridian Energy between 2011 and 2016 at a projected cost of $NZ 60 – 80 million.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Waitaki District Council ward Area". Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Waitaki hydro station".
  3. ↑ Bruce, David (29 December 2010). "Meridian upgrades on target". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.