The Silver Stream (sometimes written Silverstream) is a small river flowing close to the town of

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

in Otago, New Zealand. The Silver Stream, known in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

as Whakaehu,
Place names
'' on Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki website, viewed 2012-01-04 rises in the

Silverpeaks The Silverpeaks (sometimes spelt Silver Peaks) is an area of rough forest and tussock and scrub covered hill country inland and to the northwest of Dunedin, New Zealand. The area is largely uninhabited; the main indication of human activity is ...

hills north of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, on the southern slope of Silver Peak itself, and flows initially southwards through a steep-sided forested valley which widens to become

Whare Flat Whare Flat is a locality some 15 km to the northwest of Dunedin city centre, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located at a widening of the Silver Stream's valley amid the foothills of the Silverpeaks. Whare Flat is the location of a s ...

, before turning west at the eastern edge of the

Taieri Plains The Taieri Plain (also referred to in the plural as the Taieri Plains) is an area of fertile agricultural land to the southwest of Dunedin, in Otago, New Zealand. The plain covers an area of some 300 square kilometres, with a maximum extent of ...

at the foot of Three Mile Hill, close to

Invermay Research Station Invermay Agricultural Centre is located close to Mosgiel, on the Taieri Plains in Otago, New Zealand. Part of AgResearch, it is a scientific research centre specialising in research into genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of bio ...

. It continues in a southwesterly direction past the northern edge of Mosgiel, reaching the

Taieri River The Taieri River is the fourth-longest river in New Zealand and is in Otago in the South Island. Rising in the Lammerlaw Range, it initially flows north, then east around the Rock and Pillar range before turning southeast, reaching the sea sou ...

two kilometres north of Allanton. Its total length is about . Silver Stream is the site of a historic

water race Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

. The Silver Stream Water Race was built between 1877 and 1881, and consisted of nearly of open races, sluices, tunnels, and weirs. The race began at a weir high on the river and traversed the sides of Swampy Summit and Flagstaff before emptying into a reservoir in

Kaikorai Valley Kaikorai Valley is a long broad valley which runs through the west of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, to the west of the city centre. It is the valley of a small stream, the Kaikorai Stream, which runs from northeast to southwest down the ...

. Despite efforts to improve the race with the installation of a pump in 1920, it was not successful; problems with subsidence led to much of the race being enclosed in pipe, and the race was finally abandoned in the 1960s.The Silver Stream Water Race Tracks
, ''Dunedin City Council''. Retrieved 3 July 2018. The river's flow is generally small (at below one cumec), but it has a history of flooding. This has been largely remedied by the artificial raising of its banks, especially close to Mosgiel. In mid-2006, after heavy rain, the Silver Stream flooded at some points, but did not flood on the part of the bank running close to the town. Several walking routes are located close to or in the valley of the Silver Stream, most of which are aimed at more experienced trampers.Silverstream walks
, ''Dunedin City Council''. Retrieved 3 July 2018. Silverstream School and Silverstream Drive in Mosgiel are named for the river.

References

{{Taieri Rivers of Otago Mosgiel Rivers of New Zealand Taieri River