WILBERFORCE RIVER

The 'Wilberforce River' is a river in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. It is located in western Canterbury and is naturally a tributary of the Rakaia River, but like the Harper River, it has had some of its flow diverted into Lake Coleridge as part of a hydroelectricity project. This diversion was established in 1977 and boosted the output of the Coleridge Power Station.
An early proposal for the route of the Midland Line railway from Christchurch to Westland involved extending the Whitecliffs Branch to the West Coast via the Wilberforce River and Browning's Pass. This was one of the proposals rejected in favour of a route via Arthur's Pass.

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References

References

★ Map of the Lake Coleridge Basin, showing the Wilberforce River's location

★ TurstPower - Coleridge Power Station

★ Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, ''The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History'' (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), pg. 186.