Waihopai Valley is an area near Blenheim in the

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

region of 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. The Waihopai River drains the area. The

Government Communications Security Bureau The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) ( mi, Te Tira Tiaki) is the public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an intelligence nature. ...

operates what it describes as a

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

communications monitoring facility in the Waihopai Valley, which it calls

GCSB Waihopai The Waihopai Station is a secure communication facility, located near Blenheim, run by New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau. The station started operating in 1989, and collects data that is then shared with New Zealand's allie ...

. It has been identified as being a part of

ECHELON ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that use ...

, the worldwide network of signals interception facilities run by the

UKUSA The United Kingdom – United States of America Agreement (UKUSA, ) is a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The alliance of intell ...

consortium of intelligence agencies. The lower Waihopai, as it runs into the

Wairau Valley Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough Region, Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. New Zealand State Highway 63, State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley open ...

, has a number of vineyards. From 1925 to 1927 small

hydroelectric power station 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 ...

was built in the valley. It is now operated by

TrustPower Manawa Energy Limited, formerly Trustpower, is a New Zealand electricity generation company that offers bespoke electricity products to commercial and industrial customers across New Zealand. Manawa Energy has 26 hydro-electricity schemes, with a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waihopai (Region) Geography of the Marlborough Region Populated places in the Marlborough Region