The Clutha River/Mata-Au is the second longest

river in New Zealand and the longest in the

South Island. It flows south-southeast 338

kilometres from Lake Wanaka 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 the

catchment of 21,960 square kilometres (8,480 sq mi),

discharging a mean flow of 614 cubic meters per

second (21,700 cu ft/s). The Clutha 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.

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In this photograph someone has caught a massive Rainbow Trout!

The River Clutha

This is where

the River Clutha starts and ends.

History

On the upper reaches,there used to be lots of Moas, which were large flightless birds. The river was known to the Māori as Mata-au,it is still used for one of the two main channels of Clutha delta. During New Zealand's early colonial hitory it was known as the Molyneux, that name give to it by Captain Cook.

Gold rush

The river featured greatly in the Central Otago goldrush. The first major gold deposits in Otago were discovered around the Tuapeka River, a branch of the Clutha. The discovery of the gold is what brought people to live along the Clutha River. Beyond lake Wanaka, the next big town is Cromwell, this was a town built by the gold rush as well.By Chrstmas 1861, 14,000 prspectors were on the nearby gold fields.

That's like 1 / Carmarthen swimming

pools every second!!!

CONTRY: New Zealand

RIVER MOUTH: Pacific Ocean

sea level

BASIN SIZE: 21,960 km

LENGHTH: 338 km (210 mi)

DISCHARGE AVERAGE RATE:

614 m /s (21,700 cu ft/s)

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