The Twizel River is a river of the

Mackenzie Basin The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest su ...

, in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

region of New Zealand's South Island. It is part of 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 � ...

system. It was named for

Twizel Bridge Twizell Bridge (also spelt Twizel Bridge) is a Tudor arch bridge which crosses the River Till near Duddo, Northumberland in the Northeast of England. It is a Grade II* listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and no longer carries ve ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

John Turnbull Thomson John Turnbull Thomson (10 August 1821 – 16 October 1884) was a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of nineteenth-century Singapore and New Zealand. He lived the last 2 ...

, Chief Surveyor of Otago in the mid 1800s. The Twizel River has its origins in numerous streams which flow down the eastern flanks of the

Ben Ohau Range Ben Ohau Range is a mountain range in Canterbury Region, South Island, New Zealand. It lies west of Lake Pukaki, at and east of the Dobson river and Lake Ohau. The Ben Ohau range is dominated at the southern end by Ben Ohau Ben Ohau Ran ...

, the longest of which are the Gladstone Stream and the Duncan Stream. The Twizel River flows south, veering slowly southeast close to the town of

Twizel Twizel () is the largest town in the Mackenzie District, in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand. The town was founded in 1968 to house construction workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Scheme. Today, Twizel is a se ...

. From here it flows into the northern end of the artificial lake,

Lake Benmore Lake Benmore is New Zealand's largest artificial lake. Located in the South Island of New Zealand and part of the Waitaki River, it was created in the 1960s by construction of Benmore Dam. Characteristics The lake has an area of about 75 ...

References

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

See also

References