Lake Manapouri

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Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapōuri is located in the South Island of New Zealand. The lake is situated within the Fiordland National Park and the wider region of Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area.

Lake Manapōuri drains a large catchments 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.

The lake provides hydro-electric power via Manapōuri Hydroelectric Power Station, in the West Arm, which discharges water through two 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) tailrace tunnels to Doubtful Sound and the sea.

Lake Manapōuri is often described as New Zealand’s most beautiful lake and it provides 73% of New Zealand’s longfin eel lake habitat protected from commercial fishing.

The islands around Lake Manapōuri are of varying size and isolation. Many of the islands contain virtually unmodified vegetation. However, there is large diversity between islands in habitat biodiversity, with some islands being completely devoid of plants and soil and other rich in both. There is confusion as to some differences with some researchers finding that the area of an island plays a role in species richness with others find no correlation at all. Red deer have greatly modified much of Fiordlands' vegetation however only the two largest islands within Lake Manapōuri contain introduced red deer while other islands are only occasionally visited by deer.

Getting There

This tourist attraction is well serviced by public transport including taxis, buses and shuttle.