Opuha Water
The Opuha Dam, which is situated at the confluence of the North and South Opuha Rivers 17 kms north-east of Fairlie, is an infrastructure project undertaken by the community of South Canterbury.
The actual project itself consists of a 50 metre high earth dam, with a single hydro turbine and a lake covering up to 710 hectares and storing over 74 million cubic metres of water.
The lake provides water to maintain environmental flows in the downstream catchment and for irrigation as well as urban and industrial supplies. Renewable hydro electricity is generated with all the water released from the dam. Water storage is prioritised for release into the Opuha River which flows into Opihi River to ensure minimum flows are maintained at all times and especially in times of drought and/or low natural flows.
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