Water in New Zealand and are of varying types and origins. Many of the lakes in the central North Island area are volcanic crater lakes, while the majority of the lakes near the Southern Alps were carved by glaciers. Hydroelectric reservoirs are common in South Canterbury, Central Otago and along the Waikato River. Over 180,000 kilometres of rivers has been mapped in New Zealand, the longest being the Waikato River with a length of 425 kilometres and the largest river by volume is the Clutha River with a mean discharge of 533 cubic metres per second. New Zealand has many notable waterfalls, some of
Freshwater River Freshwater River The Freshwater River is the longest river on Stewart Island / Rakiura, the third largest of New Zealand's islands. It arises close to the island's northwestern point, from which it is separated by a ridge, and flows southeastward through the Ruggedy Flat for before reaching the Paterson Inlet on the island's central east coast. The Freshwater is the longest New Zealand river not to be located in either of the country's two main islands. The river's catchment dominates much of the island's north, forming a wide swampy basin that covers some (almost a tenth of the island's total