Opuha Dam

The Opuha Dam is located on the Opuha River, a tributary of the Opihi River in South Canterbury, New Zealand. The dam is used for water storage for farming irrigation and provides 7.7 MW of electricity to New Zealand's national grid.

The dam failed during construction on February 6, 1997 due to heavy rain.^[1] It was completed in 1998, creating Lake Opuha.^[2]

References

1. ^ Lees, P. & Thomson, D. (2003) 'Emergency management, Opuha Dam collapse, Waitangi Day 1997', NZ Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD), 2003 Symposium "Dams – Consents and Current Practice”, Papers. Part 1, pages 84–89. The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, PO Box 12-241, Wellington, New Zealand, 2003.
2. ^ Lake Opuha, South Canterbury, New Zealand.

External links

• IPENZ report on emergency management.

Coordinates: 44°00′02″S 170°53′28″E / 44.00056°S 170.89111°E / -44.00056; 170.89111