The Cam River / Ruataniwha is a small river in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It is a tributary of the

Kaiapoi River The Kaiapoi River is a minor river of north Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island. Originally called the ''Cam River'', it is a tributary of the Waimakariri River, which it joins at the larger river's estuary. The river is long, and its drain ...

, itself a tributary of the

Waimakariri River The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. ...

. The Cam / Ruataniwha rises just to the east of the town of

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...

and flows south across the Canterbury Plains towards Kaiapoi.New Zealand Topo50 map series, sheet BW24 – Rangiora It has two named tributaries, North Brook and South Brook, both of which rise in Rangiora, plus several unnamed streams and drainage canals. The river's official name was changed from Cam River to the

dual name Dual naming is the adoption of an official place name that combines two earlier names, or uses both names, often to resolve a disagreement over which of the two individual names is more appropriate. In some cases, the reasons are political. Some ...

Cam River / Ruataniwha by the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. The Cam river holds a small population of Brown trout and Chinook salmon, with its tributaries spawning grounds for the trout and salmon mostly in the North Brook and South Brook stream, Middle Brook is silted so any trout in the stream do not spawn.

References

Rivers of Canterbury, New Zealand Waimakariri District Rivers of New Zealand {{CanterburyNZ-river-stub