Rangitata River

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The Rangitata River(English: Alford) is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for 120 kilometres from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometres northeast of Timaru.

Towards its mouth, the river splits into two streams, forming a large delta island (Rangitata Island). This island is crossed by State Highway 1 and the Main South Line railway between Ealing and Rangitata and thus is an island connected directly by New Zealand's main state highway and one of its primary railway lines.

The Rangitata River is a celebrated Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) fishery.^[1]

On 23 December 1999 Fish and Game New Zealand lodged an application for a water conservation order on the Rangitata River. In June 2006, the water conservation order was gazetted.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ McDowall, R. M. (1990) New Zealand freshwater fishes: a natural history and guide. Heinemann-Reed, Auckland, 553 p.
2. ^ The application, the reports of the Special Tribunal and the Environment Court, the Minister's press release, and the the Water Conservation (Rangitata River) Order 2006 are available on this page of the Ministry for the Environment's website Application for a Water Conservation Order on the Rangitata River, retrieved 6 November 2007.