Lake Waitaki is the smallest, oldest and most downstream of the three man-made

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s on the Waitaki River, and forms part of the Waitaki

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

scheme in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 ...

. It lies downstream of lakes

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popul ...

and Benmore on the

Waitaki River The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the � ...

, close to the town of

Kurow Kurow is a small town in the Waitaki District, New Zealand. It is located on the south bank of the Waitaki River, northwest of Oamaru. Description The name is an Anglicised form of the Māori name of the nearby mountain, Te Kohurau. In the ...

. It is part of the traditional boundary of the

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. ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

regions (although the official border has been moved southward to include the entire lake, as well as the entire northwest portion of

Waitaki District Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru. ...

within the Canterbury Region. 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. The power station is to be upgraded by Meridian Energy between 2011 and 2016 at a projected cost of $NZ 60 – 80 million.

References

External links

Meridian Energy
– power station information
Waitaki Hydro-electric Project photograph album
– Historic photographs held by Christchurch City Libraries {{DEFAULTSORT:Waitaki, Lake Hydroelectric power stations in New Zealand Lakes of Canterbury, New Zealand