Lake Clearwater (village)

This article is about the village in New Zealand. For the community in the U.S.A., see Clearwater Lake, Wisconsin. For other uses, see Clearwater Lake (disambiguation).
Lake Clearwater
Village
Baches in Lake Clearwater
Coordinates: 43°36′36″S 171°02′49″E / 43.61°S 171.047°E / -43.61; 171.047
CountryNew Zealand
RegionCanterbury
Territorial authorityAshburton District
WardWestern
Electorates
Government
 • Territorial authorityAshburton District Council
 • Regional councilEnvironment Canterbury
 • Mayor of AshburtonNeil Brown
 • Rangitata MPJames Meager
 • Te Tai Tonga MPTākuta Ferris

Lake Clearwater is a village in the Ashburton District of New Zealand between a lake of the same name and the nearby Lake Camp. The village lies within the Ōtūwharekai/Ashburton Lakes region.

The area for the village was first laid out in 1920,[1] and the land was gifted to the people of the Ashburton District by the run-holders of the Mount Possession Station, in a series of gifts in 1926, 1949 and 1964. The land is held in trust for the purposes of enabling small holiday homes (a bach) and picnicking. The sections in the village are leased to owners on a perpetually renewable lease. Part of the gifting arrangement included a requirement that 0.81 ha (2 acres) was to "be set apart for use as a camping ground for visitors and similar uses for the benefit of the county of Ashburton". While the earlier buildings in the village were small and simple, in recent years higher quality dwellings have been built. There are around 180 individual dwellings in the village, as well as a reserve for overnight camping.[2][3]

The adjoining Lake Camp is designated as a recreation reserve and is owned by the Department of Conservation. However, both Lake Camp and the Lake Clearwater village are administered by the Ashburton District Council.[4] Lake Camp is popular for recreation in summer, including swimming and water skiing. In 2024, the community raised concerns about the low level of Lake Camp, and advocated for the re-instatement of a former diversion of the Balmacaan Stream to add inflows to the lake to improve the recreational potential.[5] The diversion had been in place for 50 years, but a resource consent for the diversion expired in 2020.[4][6][7] The Ashburton District Council decided not to seek a new resource consent, because of the high costs and uncertain outcome.[7]

A case study report into declining water quality, published by the Ministry for the Environment in 2023, reported that all the Ōtūwharekai / Ashburton Lakes were nutrient-enriched, with some at risk of deteriorating further into severe eutrophic states, changing from clear water with vegetation, to turbid algae-dominated water.[8] The study reported that pastoral farming was the source for more than 90% of nutrients. Seepage of human waste at Lake Clearwater and Lake Camp was a contributor, but represented less than 10% of the nutrient inflow.[9] As part of a 30 year plan for Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater published in 2022, the Ashburton District Council required bach owners to install a holding tank for sewage by 30 June 2023, to help prevent further degradation of the lake environment.[10][2]

Demographics

Lake Clearwater is in the Ashburton Lakes statistical area, which covers 2,995.14 km2 (1,156.43 sq mi)[11]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Clearwater (village).
  1. ^ "Future of Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater - Consultation Document" (PDF). Ashburton District Council. 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b "The Future of Lake Camp (Ōtautari) & Lake Clearwater (Te Puna a Taka) 30 Year Plan 2022 - 2052" (PDF). Ashburton District Council. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Camping Grounds and Reserves". Ashburton District Council. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  4. ^ a b Leask, Jonathan (19 August 2024). "Community makes last-ditch plea ahead of Lake Camp meeting". RNZ. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  5. ^ "Ongoing dry conditions put strain on lakes and rivers". Environment Canterbury. 29 July 2024. ProQuest 3085312262 – via LiveNews.co.nz.
  6. ^ Leask, Jonathan (29 July 2024). "Fears deepen for Canterbury's shrinking lake". RNZ. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b Leask, Jonathan (26 September 2024). "'Right call' to pull plug on Lake Camp consent". RNZ. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  8. ^ Davis, Sharon (3 December 2023). "Ashburton Lakes remediation plan expected to be complete before year end". Rural Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2025 – via New Zealand Herald.
  9. ^ "Õtüwharekai/Ashburton Lakes lessons-learnt report: A case study examining ongoing deterioration of water quality in the Otuwharekai lakes" (PDF). Ministry for the Environment. May 2023. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Views sought on future development at Lakes Camp and Clearwater". Ashburton District Council. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  11. ^ "ArcGIS Web Application". statsnz.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
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