Rivers of New Zealand Rivers of New Zealand The rivers of New Zealand are used for a variety of purposes and face a number of environmental issues. Many of the rivers in the South Island are braided rivers. The longest river in New Zealand is the Waikato River with a length of . The largest river by volume is the Clutha River with a mean discharge of . Some of the rivers, especially those with wide flood plains and stop banks, have long road bridges spanning them. The Rakaia River is crossed by the longest bridge in New Zealand at . The third longest
Arrow River (New Zealand) Arrow River (New Zealand) The Arrow River is a short river in Otago, New Zealand. It is a tributary of the Kawarau River, which in turn feeds into the Clutha. The town of Arrowtown lies on the Arrow. A very small amount of gold was discovered by Jack Tewa in the Arrow River in August 1862. In early October much larger finds were made by John McGregor and Peter Stewart of the McGregor and Low party and by William Fox. They disagreed over who found gold there first. It was an important part of the Central Otago Gold Rush of