The Matiri River is a river located in the northwest of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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 ...

. The river is in the

Tasman Region Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, ...

. It runs south for 30 kilometres from its headwaters west of Mount Owen in

Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park is a national park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging from the Buller River near Murc ...

to its confluence with the

Buller River The Buller River () is a river in the South Island of New Zealand. The Buller has the highest flow of any river in the country during floods, though it is only the 13th longest river; it runs for from Lake Rotoiti (Tasman), Lake Rotoiti throu ...

just below the town of Murchison. Halfway along its length, it passes through Lake Matiri. Downstream from Lake Matiri the banks of the river has mixed livestock farming and some small scale forestry. Downstream from Lake Matiri, the Matiri River East Branch and the Matiri River West Branch flow into the Matiri River.

Recreation

The river is used for

whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

recreation. It has a tight grade III rapid in a narrow cleft of a gorge a short distance upstream of the road end. There are also two bouldery drops that can only be run in high flows when it may reach grade IV. The river is considered to be best run when the Buller River is too high and dangerous. A

tramping Tramping may refer to: Travel *Hiking *Trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting ...

track that starts at the road end runs along the western side of the river.

Hydroelectricity

New Zealand Energy Limited New Zealand Energy is a New Zealand electricity generation energy retailer company, servicing the Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson and Tasman District, Tasman Regions of the country. The company is based in Motueka, and generates their renewable hyd ...

have proposed the Matiri Project hydroelectric power scheme on the river.

References

External links

Department of Conservation
– Matiri Valley & 1000 Acre Plateau Rivers of the Tasman District Rivers of New Zealand Rivers of Kahurangi National Park {{Tasman-river-stub