History of the river

The low rainfall has led to the development of extensive water storage and irrigation schemes. Three reservoirs have been established in the Manuherikia catchment to provide water for irrigation.

-          Poolburn Reservoir was constructed in 1931, with a capacity of 26 million cubic metres.

-          Falls Dam was built in 1935 to capture the high rainfall water supply in the northern high-altitude part of the catchment and has a capacity of 11  million cubic metres.

-          Manorburn Reservoir was built in 1935 and has a capacity of 51 million cubic metres.

The irrigation distribution system consists of a network of manually controlled, unlined, open water races.

-          The Blackstone Hill, Omakau, Manuherikia, and Galloway irrigation schemes take water out of the Manuherikia River, which is partly controlled by the releases of Falls Dam, and distribute the water through a network of open water channels to irrigate the Manuherikia Valley bottom.

-          The Poolburn Reservoir is used to store water to irrigate Ida Valley.

-          Water from the Manorburn Reservoir is partly diverted into the Manuherikia Valley over an open water race to irrigate the upper Galloway Irrigation Scheme. The rest of the Manorburn water is used for irrigation in the Ida Valley.