The Cobb Reservoir, surrounded by
Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging to near Golden Bay in the north. Much of what was t ...
and fed by the
Cobb River, is 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 Tasma ...
of
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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
. The reservoir feeds the
Cobb Power Station and is above sea level but drops significantly with low rainfall. Cobb Reservoir is the highest hydro storage lake in New Zealand.
The dam that forms the reservoir was built from 1949 to 1954, replacing a smaller structure built about ten years earlier. It is an earth dam high by long. The geology of the area precluded the construction of a concrete dam.
A narrow winding road leads over Cobb Ridge to Cobb Reservoir and along the lake's shore, providing access to tramping tracks in the area surrounding the valley. The road was built in the 1940s and remains unsealed from Cobb Power Station onwards.
See also
*
List of dams and reservoirs in New Zealand
Many of the largest dams and reservoirs in New Zealand have been developed principally to produce hydroelectricity. Other uses include irrigation and municipal water supply.
Hydro-electric dams
The main river systems comprising a series of d ...
References
External links
Cobb Reservoirat
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
{{Tasman District
Reservoirs in New Zealand
Landforms of the Tasman District