| Poolburn Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Poolburn Dam | |
 Poolburn Reservoir in April 2015 | |
| Location | Central Otago, NZ |
| Coordinates | 45°19′S169°45′E / 45.317°S 169.750°E |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Built | 1930–1931 |
| Surface area | 300 hectares (3.0 km2) |
Poolburn Reservoir, also known as Poolburn Dam, is a reservoir in Central Otago, New Zealand. Built during the Great Depression for irrigation but also as an employment initiative, the water is used by farmers in the Ida Valley.
The reservoir is located west of the Rough Ridge Range. Long Valley Creek feeds the reservoir, and the reservoir itself feeds the Pool Burn. The Pool Burn flows into the Ida Valley, combines with the Ida Burn, and breaks through the Raggedy Range as the Poolburn Gorge before flowing into the Manuherikia River. [1]
There is access to Poolburn Reservoir from either Omakau in the Manuherikia Valley (30 kilometres or 19 miles) or from Oturehua in the Ida Valley (43 kilometres or 27 miles). [2] There is also access from Paerau over the Rock and Pillar Range (24 kilometres or 15 miles), but this is a dry-weather road only that can be negotiated by four-wheel drive only, and is not generally recommended. [3] The high parts of the road are closed from early June to late September each year, and Poolburn Reservoir thus cannot be accessed by road during winter. The road from Paerau to the Ida Valley via Poolburn Reservoir is part of the Old Dunstan Road that gave gold diggers access to the gold fields during the early days of the Otago gold rush. The journey from Dunedin to the gold fields took five days. An alternative route to the gold fields starting in Palmerston was longer by 50 kilometres (31 mi) but much easier to travel on, as it did cross any mountainous ranges or major rivers. This became the major wagon route and is today State Highway 85. With no major settlements along its way, much of the Old Dunstan Road was never fully formed, resulting in only seasonal access to Poolburn Reservoir. [4] Since 2004, council staff fly in by helicopter to lock the mountainous roads each winter. [5]
A deputation went to see the Minister of Labour and Transport, Bill Veitch, in March 1929 with regards to a proposal for an irrigation dam for the benefit of Ida Valley farmers. [6] The United Government approved the scheme by September of that year, partially as an employment initiative during the Great Depression, and charged the Department of Public Works with its construction [7] and put £71,823 into the 1930 budget. [8] Preliminary work, including the construction of the access road from the Ida Valley, started in late 1929. [9] The Minister of Public Works, William Taverner, reported in August 1930 that the excavation for the concrete arch dam had been filled to approximately ground level. [10] Poolburn Reservoir was completed by late 1931. [11] The reservoir is located on the Old Dunstan Road and the flooded area had five hotels. [3]
The concrete arch dam is about 100 feet (30 m) high and 480 feet (150 m) long at the dam's crest. Approximately 14,000 cubic yards (11,000 m3) of concrete were used to construct the dam. [7] During construction, scaffolding collapsed resulting in seven men sustaining injuries, with two men initially in critical condition. [12] In June 1931, one worker died from a fall at the site. [13]
Today, the dam is administered by the Ida Valley Irrigation Company. [3] When full, the reservoir covers over 300 hectares (3.0 km2). [3] Poolburn Reservoir and Poolburn Dam are alternative names for the same body of water. [2]
Brown trout and rainbow trout were introduced into the reservoir, but only brown trout remain. [3] The other aquatic species that can be caught is the New Zealand freshwater crayfish koura. [14]
Poolburn Reservoir was used to depict Rohan in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. [2]
There are many baches around the reservoir. An application to subdivide a 902 hectares (2,230 acres) land holding for housing was withdrawn just prior to the hearing, as the commissioner for the Central Otago District Council had recommended for consent to be refused. [15]
Alexandra is a town in the Central Otago district of the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the banks of the Clutha River, on State Highway 8, 188 kilometres (117 mi) by road from Dunedin and 33 kilometres (21 mi) south of Cromwell. The nearest towns to Alexandra via state highway 8 are Clyde seven kilometres to the northwest and Roxburgh forty kilometres to the south. State highway 85 also connects Alexandra to Omakau, Lauder, Oturehua, Ranfurly and on to Palmerston on the East Otago coast.
The Clutha River is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast 338 kilometres (210 mi) through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south west of Dunedin. It is the highest volume river in New Zealand, and the swiftest, with a catchment of 21,000 square kilometres (8,100 sq mi), discharging a mean flow of 614 cubic metres per second (21,700 cu ft/s). The river is known for its scenery, gold-rush history, and swift turquoise waters. A river conservation group, the Clutha Mata-Au River Parkway Group, is working to establish a regional river parkway, with a trail, along the entire river corridor.
Cromwell is a town in Central Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Cromwell is located on the shores of Lake Dunstan where the Kawarau river joins Lake Dunstan. Cromwell was established during the Otago gold rush and is now more known as one of the sub regions of the Central Otago wine region. In 2018, the town of Cromwell was home to a population of 5610 people.
Naseby is a small town, formerly a borough, in the Maniototo area of Central Otago, New Zealand. It is named after a village in Northamptonshire, England. Previous names of the township were Parker's, Hogburn and Mt Ida. The town catch phrase is "2000 feet above worry level" indicating its altitude. Naseby is 395 km from Christchurch and 143 km from Dunedin.
Lake Dunstan is a man-made lake and reservoir in the South Island of New Zealand.
The Cromwell Gorge is a steep gorge cut by the former Clutha River in the Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It winds 19 km (12 mi) between the Dunstan and Cairnmuir Mountains, linking the townships of Cromwell and Clyde. It is one of three substantial river gorges in Central Otago, the others being the Kawarau Gorge to the west of Cromwell, and the Roxburgh Gorge south of Alexandra.
St Bathans, formerly named Dunstan Creek, is a former gold and coal mining town in Central Otago, New Zealand. The settlement was a centre of the Otago gold rush, but mining has since long ceased. It is now largely a holiday retreat due to the preservation of many of its historic buildings.
The Water of Leith, is a small river in the South Island of New Zealand.
Paerau is a small settlement in inland Central Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is located in the Strath Taieri, the upper valley of the Taieri River, at the foot of the Rock and Pillar Range. "Paerau" is a Māori-language name meaning "one hundred ridges".
The Great Moss Swamp is located in Otago, New Zealand, within the Maniototo region. It is near the Old Dunstan Road, a former gold mining route, approximately 85 kilometres northwest of Dunedin city centre. This area is classified as a regionally significant wetland.
Styx Creek is a small to medium-sized natural stream in the Central Otago region of New Zealand. It flows into the Taieri River in the valley near Paerau, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Dunedin.
Ophir is a small settlement in Central Otago, New Zealand, located between Alexandra and Ranfurly close to the east bank of the Manuherikia River. The settlement of Omakau is located on the opposite bank, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the northwest.
The South Island rugby league team is a rugby league team that represents the South Island of New Zealand. They are nicknamed the Scorpions. The side previously represented the Southern Zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. However, they now only compete in the under 15 and under 17 National Competitions. Historically, teams representing the South Island played annual fixtures against the North Island and also played touring international sides.
The Ida Valley lies east of the Manuherikia Valley in Central Otago, New Zealand. At an altitude of around 500 m (1,600 ft), the 40 km long flat and wide valley is a relatively dry region with cold winters and hot summers, much like the rest of Central Otago. Most agricultural production in the Ida Valley is lamb, including merino, and stud cattle.
The Poolburn Gorge is a gorge located in the Central Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand, 4 km east of the small settlement of Lauder. The Ida Burn flows through the 2.5 km long canyon across the Raggedy Range between the Ida Valley and the Manuherikia Valley. There are no public roads through the gorge; only the track of the former Otago Central Railway, now used as the Otago Central Rail Trail, follows the river on the southern flanks of the gorge.
New Regent Street is a pedestrian mall in Christchurch. Built as a private development in the early 1930s with 40 shops in Spanish Mission architectural style, it is one of the city's major tourist attractions. Providing a number of small shops as a comprehensive development was an advanced idea at the time, and New Regent Street is regarded as a forerunner to modern shopping malls. Due to its coherent architectural character, the buildings in the streets are listed as Category I heritage items by Heritage New Zealand, and in addition, the entire street has a historic area listing. The street was pedestrianised in 1994 in preparation for the introduction of the Christchurch heritage tram, which began operation in February 1995. Damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the street and buildings reopened in April 2013, and the tram returned from November of that year. Following the 2016 Valentine's Day earthquake, five of the buildings that had not been repaired after the previous earthquakes had been cordoned off, which stopped the tram from operating on its original heritage loop until May.
Dunstan Trail, also known as Old Dunstan Road, is a historic route in Otago, New Zealand. The road was created during the Central Otago gold rush of the 1860s.
The Dunstan Mountains are a mountain range in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The mountains lie on the eastern shore of the man-made Lake Dunstan and overlook the towns of Cromwell to the west, Clyde to the south and Omakau to the east. The highest named peak on the mountain range, a rocky knoll simply called Dunstan, is 1,667 m.
Cambrians, or Cambrian, formerly known as Dunstan Creek and Welshman's Gully, is a small rural settlement in the Manuherikia Valley, Central Otago, New Zealand.
