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

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

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

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

scheme in New Zealand's

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It lies downstream of lakes

Aviemore Aviemore (; ) 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 popular for skiing and ...

and Benmore on the

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

, close to the town of Kurow. It is part of the traditional boundary of the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and

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

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

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

within the Canterbury Region. The lake was created by the

Waitaki Dam The Waitaki Dam is one of eight hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations which form the Reservoirs and dams in New Zealand, Waitaki hydroelectric scheme on the Waitaki River in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand. The dam was the first ...

, a high concrete gravity dam built between 1928 and 1934. Waitaki Dam was the first hydroelectric 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 was 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 the Canterbury Region