Story: Protected areas

Waitaki River, 1948 (1st of 2)

Waitaki River, 1948

This is Black Jack’s Point on the Waitaki River in South Canterbury, before the river was altered by hydroelectricity developments. Today all the low-lying land on both sides of the point is filled by Lake Benmore. Conservationists and recreational users became increasingly concerned about such dramatic changes to New Zealand’s wild rivers in the 1970s. After a law change in 1981, rivers and lakes could be protected from development by water conservation orders.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Maori Rock Drawings Album
Reference: PA1-o-330-50
Photograph by Theo Schoon

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Les Molloy, 'Protected areas - Protected marine areas and inland waters', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/14997/waitaki-river-1948 (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Les Molloy, published 24 Sep 2007, updated 1 Sep 2015