PART3 ‘THE CLUTHA RIVERPART 3 THE CLUTHA RIVER In this section the Cluths River is examined as an entity, to give a descriptive over iow and set Its regional context. This allows the broad significance of the river as @ ‘whole at national regional and district level to be ascertained. ‘The Clutha River is one of New Zealand's major vers and will oocupy a prominent position Inthe minds of mary New Zealanders. “Its impossible to concewve Otago without (Young and Fostor 1988). At 322k its the second longest ver inthe country and its 20.5 milion fa catchment is considerably larger than any other in New Zealand, Its the largest river by volume with the largest average flow, athough a number of otter rivers have larger flood ews. Its catchment (s00 Figs. 81 and 32) reaches almost fom coast to coast and stretches from [Mis Matand, Pearson and Strachan atthe head ofthe Hunter Vallay Inthe nor at latitude 4 degrees 50’ (the same latitude as the over end of Lake Pukak) t latitude 46 dogree 20 ‘south at its mouth in Molyneux Bay not far north ofthe Catins. It drops 277m in stitude from Its mainstom source at Lake Wanaka tits mouth Derek Greslewski in his aticie on the Clusha Mota Au in the New Zealand Geographic ‘deverbes the headwaler catchment of tre Cutha eloquent iquratvely speaking, the teri Ike the trunk of a giant tee, wth a deep and complex root system, Three large lakes ~ Wanaka, Hawea and Wakatipu — anchor the system in the {ootil [ranges] of the Souter Alps, but the tributaries which feed them penetrate beyond ‘the southern lakes district ito Fiordland and as far north as Haast. The Greenstone, Caples, Rees, Dart and Routebur: the Wikin, Young Makarora, Matuktuki and Hunter ~ all ese fivers form the headwaters f the Cath." He writes "The Clutha's quiet but formidable power comes from Is large catchment area. ‘The Clutha is not a pariculary long river but it more than makes up for shortness with volume speed and power.” 75% of the average flow at Balckutha comes from the WakatipuShotover, Wanaka and Hawea subcatchmenis, areas of high alpine Main Divide ranges with much permanent ice {and snow and high rainfall of orographic origin, measured in mets (ORWE 1980). This Fesuls In high late spring and summer fows due to snow melt Lake Wanaka is the main Source caterment and origh of the Claha River, atthe Outlet Other sub-catchments adding to the Clutha below the lakes are the Arrow, Nevis and Kawarau, the Cardrona and Lind; the Fraser and the Manune'kia,and the Teviot and Pomehaka rivers (refer Fig. 31) Goneraly the catchment flows northwest to southeast although it's perceived to be more west fo east from the Alps o the sea. From the headwaters inthe Southam Alps tothe sea, the Clutha River passes through three ‘main topographical and biosimatie environments Western Alpine Range Headwaters Inthe west ts main stom headwaters fe in the precipitous, glaciated alpine ranges with permanent snow and le and the deep glacial finger lake of Waraka. The area has very high Fainfall and supports dense beech and podocar/broadlea rainforest, and bracken is typical Cover on the firo-bumt lower slopes. Much of his land is conservation land as Mt Aspiring "National Par, the lower mere easterty ranges around the lake are mainly extensive pastoral‘uns. The source of the Cluha, Lake Wanaka, is nested in these ranges. At the southeast fond of the moraine-impourded lake, tho vor has cut an outlet and thue begun its 322km Joumey fo the sea. Within about Ski the Hawea River joins the Clutha on is left, and the Cardrona River jons on its right. The Hawea catchment also extends back into the Main Divide, tothe head of te Hunter Valley but the outfiw from the lake is controled by a dam. Leke Wancka, th Outet (ours ofthe Cute Rive) and westom ranges Inland Dry Range and Basins From Wanaka the ver flows in @ southeasterly direction through the mile ofthe Wanaka- Hawea Basin. At Sandy Pont I takes a more southerly recon where it has cut a large valey trough a structural weakness between the Pisa Range and the Grandview Mountains ofthe Linas district. ‘The Clutha River, Wanake-Hawea Basin (Pisa Range right, Grandview Mountains ef)Fig. 3.1 WATERSHED MAP (CLUTHA RIVER CATCHMENT AND SUB-CATCHMENTS CLUTHA MATA AU PARKWAY PROJECTaN VLLMD GAY NOISE OO¥LO BHA 30 BON‘Te Cromwol sin, Lake Dunstan andthe Kawarau Fiver coming rm et (ooking upstresm) [At Maor Point he Clutha tums tothe southwest o flow down the tectonic rift ofthe Cromwell valley between the Pisa and Dunstan Mountains, collecting the Lindls River waters onthe left ‘It passes. At Cromwell he Clutha meets the milky Kawarau ~ a major tributary joining from the right bringing all the waters from the Wakatipu, Shotover, Arrow, and Nevis Ccchments ~ and the rveis seem to agree there at The Juncton to tum tothe southeast ‘again, cating © way throug; the Dunstan and Caimmuir Mountains forming the Cromwal or Dunstan Gorge. “The Cromwell Dunsian Gorge BSIt then presses on through the lower Manuherkia valley, another north-south trending tecionc retinear basin - tothe Knobby Range at Alexandra, gathering the waters of the ‘small Fraser River catchmert coming fom the ight. At Alexandra the Ciutha is joined by the ‘Manuneriia River eraning the high faut block ranges of North Otago. Where the fiver meets the stoep rocky hils behind Alexandra, it takes an abrupt tum to the south, following ‘stuctural weakness trough the faulted and folded schist rock of these elevated plateau ‘areas, forming the deep end nertow Roxburgh Gorge. In bath gorges and the lower and Iida pers of the Cromwell valley, the ver has been converted to long narow lakes by the {Cycle and Rexburgh Dams. [A Alexandra the river turns sharply othe South ino the Roxburgh Gorge ‘The loner Manuherka Basin “The river emerges atthe downstream end of this semiarid country through the Roxburgh Dam into anotner pair of gravel‘filed tectonic basins, this time tending orthwest to "southeast To the Southwest the spectacular eastem seam of the Old Man Range towers ‘ver the basins, but to the north the ‘country is more open, roling, gently fising, deeply ssectod plateau ‘county ofthe ancient penepin of the Knoboy Range and the Tevit his merging wih the Lammeriaws. ‘The pattem of intensively developed basin Fors notably ercharding (more so here ‘wih the more benevolent cimate) and fexionsively grazed hill and range ‘country is repeated, ‘The TeviotValoy a‘The Clutha River is intimately associated wih this most ancient and fascinating of New Zealand landscapes, one of the county's most distinctive regions ~ the semi-arid, non- ‘laciated echist range and basin. lands of Central Otago, an area stretching. from ‘approximately Wanaka 10 Ettick, the core being the Cromwell and Manuherkia basins ‘bounded by the Pisa, Dunstan, Csimmuir, Old Man and Knobby Ranges. In these stretches the ver coud be escrbed a cuting across the grain of the land, flowing cross. norh-south trending ranges to get to the sea. The river course predates “the mountains, a5 it has maintained its broad course etched on the fncient topical peneplain landscape as it ‘was faulted, buclded and folded about the fiver, forming the striking deep, narrow, rock- bound. antecedent gorges within the fault block ranges. ‘The other striking features ofthis landscape wih which the Clutia is intimately ‘associated are the pert-gatal features on broad roling range and spur summits and protic Tock tore; and the sem-ars conditions expressed through the often sparse grassland and Sorub cover including extensive thyme and special ry land and sale plant and insect Communities. Iisa place of extreme climate phenomena, the driest, the coldest, and the hottest. ‘The ver isan ‘aot of deser-dry Central Otago" (Grzetewshi 2003). Gibert van Reenen, @ ‘walkknown Otago photographer, describes the Clutha as the “ulimate sony ~ a massive fer eddying, wiring, sing and tumbling through the nation's driest area". just *00km or {9 the annual avorage rafal drops from over 5000mmm in parts of the Min Divide to under ‘300mm inthe Cromwell io Roxburgh area, Because ofthe dryness ard the steep rocky nature of much ofthe range land, the Cental (Otago area retains a more natural character on lowe gentler terrain including outwash plain ‘comparable only fo the Mackenzie Basin. Much of the land on the hls and ranges about the fiver and some parts of he basin floors whion are iled with vast quantities of fvio-glacal futwash and piedmont fan gravels in undulating terraces, is used for extensive sheep {razing, The basin floors about the ver however are largely highly modified; having been developed for intensive’ land uses incudng vineyards, orchards, and Imgated pasture. The only sizable areas ‘of undeveloped dry terrace lands. are in the Upper Cltha Basin between Lake Dunstan and Lake Wanaka, They are a distinctive feature ofthis section of the fiver landscape, 4gEaston Moister Ranges, Downlands and Coastal Plain. Beyond Miles Fat the rver enters the third broad physical environmen. Here it ets a winding course through steep rocky but or- less hill country, emerging at Beaumont into {an enclosed open valey before facing one ‘more passage between the Tuapeka and Blue Mounising. Thi area has a moc moderate clmate, wih the highest rainfall ‘away from the Main Divide. This supports 2 woody cover. Kanuka woodand and scrub |s widespread and there are rermnants of beech forest in the Rongshere Gorge, as well 25 exlensive commercial confer plantations. Tussock grassland has been Fargely. eradicated at wer attudes, ‘converted 1 rich green exoc pasture "The Beaumont Gorge ‘The Rongshere Gorge (ooking vestream) From Tuspeka Mouth, the river seemingly takes a more leisurely pace through the open, roling, rocky pastoral downlands - a verdant landscape of ‘rumpled hills (Grzelewski 2008) ~ as if ‘avouring the last stages of its journey. ‘The unerying basement rock is: now greywacke and argiite, hard ‘Sandstone. The climate is now ocean ‘moderated. Podocarp forest would have naturally covered this landscape and relict tolare is present in isolated patches by the river At Balcutha the Fiver splits info two channels — the Mata and Koau branches - for its final reaches to the sea. The river is ‘scored by high stopbanks through this area, protecting the fel intensively farmed ‘poder county’ of Inch Clutha. “Tne Clu flowing though the eerwacke at‘The River Channel ‘The Clutha is @ dooply incised single thread channel of uniform width for almost its full length, a "fll throated rvar from fe outset” (Peat 1960). It's guile unlike the braided ‘channels ofthe Canterbury rivers in their wise avel beds, being frequent rock bound end deep, swift and nanow, a ‘dfcut torent to ford (Graelewski 2003). The Clutha has “aldepth and dignity that is unvalled” (Young and Foster 1986). ‘The river fows either in deaply incised rarow channels in vast glacial futwah deposits arranged fighs of terraces about the ver or in narrow, fock-bound, antecedent gorges. (ceasional’ rock bound sectons and rocky bank sections are present with the graveliled basin afeas where Dasoment rock is cose to or at the ‘surface. There are few areas of acve floodplain and recent aluvium — the ‘most notabe being atthe Linds River ‘confluence and the wide floodplain of Inch Clutha. The river and ts ancestral ‘changes are responsible for fe vast ‘amounts of outwash filng the basins ‘and for the sculpting of i into sttking layered torrace ‘veads separated by sleep scarps, many impressive for ther Size and visually smple bead curving fevms River bank and beach material changes from. quarty boulders, ‘cobbles. and pebbles in the upper Feaches to finer gravels, sits and ‘sands in the lower reaches Occasional ock outcrop in the channel is present throughout, “The river tends to flow in straight to sinuous reaches between large kinks in its course with ‘occasional stretches of strongly developed meander loops, eg, The Snake upsiveam ofthe Luggato Bridge; from Sandy Point to Maori Point in places, at Rianey, and both channels folow a classic deltaic meander pattem across Inch Ciuta 23 if seeking to delay their ‘Soparate arrivals at the Pcie Ooean. ‘The Mata Au at Katangata at‘Whilst flooding is minimized along much of the river despite the volume of water passing ‘trough, due othe holding sffect ofthe lakes and the entrenched natural ofthe channel, the flat coastal floodplain of inch Cluta has. experienced regular and severe flooding ‘exacerbated by the Roxburgh Dam, "fequenty dramatic and atways costly’ (Lonie 1988). ‘This area is poldercouniry where extensive stop-benking and pumping of ground water is ‘employed to caim the rich fat ground for intensive farming production. “The low ofthe river i distinctive. I tends to slide and glide past with @ mercurial sheen to is waters. Bol, eddies and standing waves disrupt the surface rather than the chatter, rush ‘and tumble of shalows and rapes altiough there are rapids, mosty small to moderate. The ‘outstanding quality of the ver however is is incredibly ciear weter and rich blue-green ‘colour, due to the decanting effect of Laka Wanaka; and Young writes Though decorative bush slong its tanks may be lacking, the richness ofthe light patoms that fall upon this great ‘green ribbon of power uncoling tough this beautfuly Harsh landscape more than aiones fort. ‘The almost continuous stinger of wilows from source to sea is another distinctive visual feature as are the strong meander loops and the flights of tecraces. and sculpted guly notched risers (eg, between Abbert Towm and the Luggate Bridge; SugarL oa) CCuttural Heritage ‘The Cluta River plays a major pat inthe rch cultural heritage of Otago, The name Clutha ‘Mata Au embodies tho two nain settle populations about the rer. The Maori name Mata au is interpreted as “a current or eddy in an expanse of water’ (Young and Foster 1986). Ciutha is the ancient gaelic name forthe river Clyde in Scoland, selected by the stem Calvinist fromoters of Claas setement in pretrence tb Captain Cooks nae Mayet fo he \Whitst the river was a major means of transport and important source of resources for Mao, ‘the exploitation ofthe river wally bogan when Europeans atved in New Zealand, 38“The ver was fst exploted for alluvial gold in the 1960-1990' period mainly. Its bed and Danks troughout is length wore sited, sorted and sliced away. Iced. the. hillsides for kilometres - contour lines physieally etched on the fandscape. The miners imroduced thyme, now ‘widespread over sunny rocky semi-arid slopes from the Kawarau Gorge to Roxburgh, ‘Stone cotage relic ae Duncan Lite was very hard and the river was both @ source of hope and opportuity and certain ‘eat “tne names of the departed scratched on boulders, csims and ‘raves tl ofthe iver’ treachery" (Young and Foster 1886) Corpses, horses and mining gear was fan seen floating down the river. The young man interred at the infamous Lovely Grave at Rigney was victim tothe unforgiving deep waters of the fiver Marwal mining methods were initially employed # ‘etna’ ubtrl o on ne rt ndacaps bat ten lage scale eng egan re Ie +19" century. greatly inressing the impact on the landscape, By 1900 there were over 200 credge companies registered athough not all_had ‘machinery operating on the river. in 1950 the sredge at Lowbum was reputedly the largest in the souhern hemisphere (Lonie 1988). The last ‘dredge in operation was at Eamscieugh in 1963. “The Lontum Dredge 1851 (Young and Foster 1086) ‘The various eattlements aong the river — Cromwell, Clyde, Roxburgh, Willers Flat - began thoir if as mining towns, housing and servicing the hungred of miners who tiled along the fiver, There were up to 1500 miners inthe Roxburgh Gorge i the 1860's (Grzeleweki 2003). ‘There is sil gold amongstine river's gravels But lis so fine... the banks are brocaded with the precious meta” (Grzelewski 2003). “The rer is now crossed by 14 Bridges (16 # one counts the Roxburgh Dam) and used to be serviced by 2 number of punts (tere Is now only one lft at Tuapeka Mouth). But before roads and bridges were fut the river was used frequently for transport = a “high speed otConveyor bet” used to raft gs from the Outlet io Cromwel to satisfy the building needs of the town (Greolewski 2003) “The river was an obvious candidate for hycro-lecrc power generation with is rock-bound sections. Demand for power has been high since the 1840's postwar perod and two great Concrete dams (Rexburgh 1856 and Ciyde 1883) have been bull across its path impounding Tong narrow lakes extenang up steam {for many Klometers crowning the natural fiver and its marginal landforms. The 11960-70s period winessed an extensive ‘examination of the river for hs hydro- ‘lectrc. potential, a very contoversial period “minored by the hyo evelopment in the Wellaki- Mackenzie Basin, culminating in the completion in 4983 of the nationalysignifeant. but \widely contentious high dam at Gide, the largest concrete dam in New Zealand “The cyde Dam ‘The constriction of this dam greatly Increased knowedge of the physical environment of the river corridor and brought 10 ‘attention the huge ancient landsides of the Cromwoll Gorge. Extensive and expensive ‘Stabsaton works were requred before Lake Dunstan could be file. There were proposals {for a sequence of dams and storage lakes all re way down the Ciutha, for 10 "concrete yokes” at rocky narrows, eg., Tuapeka Mouth, Beaumont, Dumbarton Rock (Grzelewskl 2003) which would leave vitually one ofthe ver untouched and in fact much of it would ‘disappear beneath reservoir waters. These proposals ae stil ‘ve and the Tuapeka Mouth scenario was recently given (negative) publicity in the Otago Daily Times (Api 1-2 2008) “This would create another lng nartow ake stretching upstream beyond Eick Proposals for damming Late Wanaka however were too much fo stomach and pressure ‘groups were successful in geting the Lake Wanaka Preservation Act passed in 1973 which Pronibts any alteration of fhe natural form of Lake Wanaka and the river channel tothe Cardrona confluence. Tris s now the only stretch of river in ts natural state. Apart from the lakes, the downstream channels retain their natural integrity in form but flow is modified by the dams. Delivery of water for iigation of vast acreages of dry outwash plain was also anticipated as an outcome of the hyaro lakes, for example 8400ha around Queensberry and {Luggate. Ths wouid radicaly change the character ofthe landscape about he ivr, as thas (on parts ofthe flats around Tatras and towards Cromwell. gation from the ver waters Is {currently too eiicult becaue itis too deeply entrenched, Radical landscape change along the rver landscape corridor is part ofits ditnetve history First there was a change from a predominantly woody cover (beech and podocarp forest, ‘and mixed haréwood and lanuka woodland) fo tussocKlands and serub trough widespread ‘and intensive buming in Meo times, Then gold mining re-modelled the topography in many ‘areas along the Cua in tie 19° and early 20" century, accompanied by extensive ‘degradation of the grasslands through repeated burring combined with heavy grazing by ‘sheop and rabbis on enomous sheep runs on the hill and range country startng in 1887. “Towards the end of the 19" century and into the frst part ofthe 1900's, flatter more fertile land was subdivided off the large runs for smaller farms and paftculary orchards. Cultivation, fencing, tree planing and Irigaton in places changed the river landscape ramaticaly, taming i. Setements, reads and ral were networked through the landscape, ‘ana were ten re-bult in part 3s hycto-power development flooded the valleys. Stone fut and apple orchards are a quintesserial feature of the Central Olago river landscape corridor‘and adjacent lands, expressing the favourable intensely cold winters which minimise disease, the frost fee springs and the fel fee draining alluvial sols. |. Pastoral land uso remains the predominant process shaping » the river coridor landscape today. Contemporary change in the landscape ofthe river corridor however Is cherecieised by expansion of vineyards ‘and cherry orchards; large scalo pivot and ‘boom ‘irigation on the. cutwash plains (requiring the removel of tees); and the spread of smalholtings for residential Purposes and intensive production, “doops ‘of suburbia amongst budding vineyards" ‘Subdvslon for Kestie and residential development is 2 ‘major rend in andscape change inthe Upper Cluha‘The overall trend is one of continuous modification in type, intensity and extent, fuelled in places by the tenure review of high country pastoral leases which Ras resulted inthe free Folding of Crowm land opening i up to davelopment opportunites. The type of land use is changing from extensive and semintensive pastoral to more horticultural ses, the intensity of land use is increasing and the extent of modified areas is Less modified and natural areas are becoming fewer and smalier in extent. There used to be ‘hundreds of sal pans in fe Manuherka basin, now there are only @ handful of isolated sites Scattered through the farm and orchard lands. Mining and gravel quanying is stil possibilty in cartain areas ignite cos deposits are present around Resburgh, between the Pormahaka ‘and Clutha vers and at Deadmans Point new large gravel pit Is proposed on river-side land at The Nook at Luggate. Open cast coal mining and gravel extraction would potentiay have substantial impacts on the landscape of the rver comdor. The proposals for further hhydre-development of the fer are sive and would have major implications for the river landscape. “There are some rare trends inthe opposite decton, Flat Top Hil: Bendigo and Queensbery re relatively now conservation areas bordering the sve. \With exclusion of grazing, degradation is being halted and native species are regaining foothold. These areas wil be proetcted n perpeuly from landesape change due to farming, Vineyards, orcharding and residential evelopment Conelusion Itis dear the Clutha River is one of New Zealand's most significant rivers, for many reasons, ‘and despite its modied site. It is inextricably bound with some of New Zealand's most distneve ‘and cherished landscapes, repeatedly sought to be captured In painting, ‘hotegrapny, wring and verse. Its valued es @ scenic and recreational asset especially for ‘angling. The river landscape has a rich cultural history and its presence and the events that happened along i are inured in the local and regional community. tis viewed as a national ‘asset for power generation aut any fur proposals for development are ikely tobe strongly ‘opposed. tis largely untapped source of water for iigaton. pe eesReferences: CGrelowskiD What Price @ Riker? in NZ Geographic No 85 Septet 2003 Lonie a 1864 History of Water Resource Management inthe Cth River Otago Catchment Board ‘3h Regional Water Boar Mesavensy MJ and Sting WW Conta! Otago: Basin and Range County in Landforms of New ‘Zealand 2 Edion eds Soons. 3M ana Seby M1982 ‘lage Regions Weler Board 1980 Cluha Catchment Water Alocaton Plan ~ A Land and Water ‘Resource inventory ofthe Cuba Catchment, Volumes 1 and 2 Peat Nand Patick 8 1998 Wie Central Univers of Otago Press ven Reanen @ 2004 Contra! Ctago NZ ‘Young D and Foster 1986 Faces ofthe River TYNZ Publishing