Geography
Lake Manapouri was formed by glaciers during the last Holocene. The lake is New Zealand’s second deepest lake measuring 444 metres (1,457 ft) deep. Lake Manapouri is 178 metres (584 ft) above sea level however due to glaciers, Lake Manapouri has been cut deep into the ground and the bottom of the lake now lies 267 metres (876 ft) below sea level. The lake has four arms, North, South, West and Hope with the smaller indentations of Shallow Bay and Calm Bay. Lake Manapouri contains 33 islands in total with 22 of these being wooded. Lying close to the centre of the lake is the largest island of Pomona Island. Other large islands include Holmwood Island, Rona Island and Mahara Island. The small settlement of Manapouri lies on the eastern shore.
The Waiau River (Southland) is both a natural inlet and outlet for the lake, flowing into the northeast of the lake from Lake Te Anau, 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north and flowing out from Manapouri's south-eastern end. The outlet however has been diverted due to the development of Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station. Water now flows unnaturally westward to the sea at Deep Cove. Rainfall in the area is high, however due to the mountains in the west rainfall is much higher in this area. The average rainfall for the western arm of Lake Manapouri is 3,786 millimetres (149.1 in) annually, while Manapouri Township on the eastern arm of the lake receives under half at 1,143 millimetres (45.0 in) annually. Lake Manapouri drains a large catchment area of 1,388 square kilometres (536 sq mi). This includes the slopes of the Kepler Mountains, Turret Range and Hunter Mountains which surround all but the eastern shore of the lake. Water levels in the lake are predominantly high during spring due to snow melt and low in winter.
Lake Manapouri is often described as New Zealand’s most beautiful lake.
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