24 1. The Central Plains Water Irrigation Scheme began in 2013.
2. Construction cost approximately $385 million. 3. It irrigates 600 km² of land.
4. The Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers are linked using a 56 km canal. Water from the canal is circulated throughout the 600 km² by over 500 kms of underground piping. Water within the canal is about 4 m deep and approximately 25 m wide at the surface.
Coleridge Lake R Christchurch Lake Ellesmere
Canterbury Bight
Pacific Ocean
Map of the Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers
The Central Plains in New Zealand
Pegasus Bay
Bringing water to the Central Plains: z„
z„
The main pipelines were constructed between May 2014 and August 2015.
One hundred and thirty kilometres of piping was used to bring water from the now joined rivers to the Central Plains.
