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Wild Rivers: The Nevis
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As well as containing some of the country’s most exhilarating white-water, the Nevis is home to some of our most threatened species such as our black-fronted tern, black billed gull and our banded dotteral.
Event: Nevis River Day Out, 29th November, 2009
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Where it is?
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The Nevis drains the Hector and Garvie mountain ranges, flowing north towards the Kawarau River in Central Otago. The river snakes in a single thread from its source, begins to meander as braided river once it meets open valleys and then plummets some 500 vertical meters through an exhilarating white water gorge to meet the more gentle Kawerau. The Nevis River flows through several pastoral leases.
Why’s it special?
The Nevis Valley is the last remaining wild undammed, un-regulated river in Central Otago that flows through a relatively little modified tussock grassland and mountainous landscape.
It is home to at least seven threatened plant species including as our tiny hairy Forget-me-nots, and six threatened bird species including Black-fronted tern and Banded dotterels.
The Nevis Valley also contains a unique population of the threatened Gollum galaxias, a non migratory native fish endemic to southern South Island and Stewart Island. It is found further South but is not found anywhere else in the Kawerau River Catchment. It is thought that the Nevis Gollum was able to occupy the Nevis River when uplift along the Nevis-Cadrona Fault system lead to the upper reaches of the Nokomai River being cut off and captured by the Kawerau as the new Nevis Tributary, some 500,000 – 800,000 years ago. The Nevis Gollum has been isolated for a very long time and is genetically distinct and is considered to be the most ancient offshoot from the ancestral Gollum galaxias population.
This river is revered by whitewater kayakers who regard it as a classic stretch of difficult whitewater. With its long stretches of Class 4 rapids and numerous Class 5 rapids it tests the skill, endurance and team work of top notch kayak teams. Nowhere else in New Zealand does a river of this size, fall so steeply, through this type of countryside.
The Nevis River was included in the 1997 Kawarau Water Conservation Order, but this Order failed to include a prohibition on damming in the Nevis valley, in direct contrast to every other river covered under the Order.
In 2008 Fish and Game applied to amend the Kawarau Water Conservation Order to include a prohibition on damming in the Nevis valley. A decision on this application is expected in early 2010.
What is planned for this river?
The Nevis River has been being eyeballed by Pioneer Generation for years. They bought the pastoral leases for both the Craigroy and Ben Nevis Stations which border the river.
It was clear that Pioneer bought the leases with a view towards undergoing tenure review , owning the land freehold and then being able to more easily build a dam.
Despite Pioneer Generation's assurances to the contrary, there are clear plans for two dams below Nevis Crossing which would dewater the lower gorge and inundate a large portion of the upper valley. The tenure review process for both Craigroy and Ben Nevis Stations is well underway.