page_title: Maitai River
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Maitai River / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: South branch of the Maitai River, Nelson, near Maitai Dam
context_page_description: The Maitai River is Nelson's largest river located in New Zealand's South Island, located on the islands North-West peak. The river stretches from the Bryant Range, situated to the east of the coastal city Nelson, where it flows towards the city, flowing west through the heart of the city and into the Tasman bay at Nelson Haven. The catchment of the river covers some 9000 hectares, and has two branches in the upper catchment, the north meets a dam, where the south travels west into the middle catchment, from where it takes its final journey through the urban area of the city before meeting the ocean.
  The Maitai river provides habitats for a plethora of diverse wildlife, at all catchments of the river and its surrounding ecosystems. This sees that many species of bird, fish, mammals and reptiles use the river as both a home and a source of food and drinking water, as well as for extensive amounts of vegetation to grow around the abundant water-source. There has also been discoveries of unique life in the Maitai River as well as surrounding rivers in the Nelson region.
context_section_description: Being the largest river in the Nelson region, the Maitai river is stretches a long distance of 11 kilometers, flowing into the Tasman sea from the Bryant Range. The Maitai river also includes smaller rivers which are tributaries to the main westward flow of the river. These tributaries are considered part of the river; the two mains ones are the Mineral Belt and Roding. Because of the inland nature of the river, once it extends past the urbanized area of the city and more into the east, the river is surrounded by a vast amount of forest and rock-face, where water is channeled into the river.  Further upstream, the river meets the Maitai Dam and Reservoir, which is the furthest upstream man-made feature on the river. A layer of thick rock prevents the river from joining with the neighboring rivers and waters on its eastern side. 
  The river starts at the Headwaters, where it flows down to the Lowland Hill Country, which is the largest section of the Maitai river, consisting mostly of forest. From there it flows further northwest towards the ocean, as it becomes the Lowland Flats and Allulvai Terraces, which is also mostly forest, but sitting atop flat lands. It then reaches the Coastal Flats, where it meets the ocean, and is the last of the forest land that surrounds the river before it meets the city. The river's mouth opens into the Tasman Sea at Nelson Haven, where the estuary is surrounded by some urbanized areas.
caption: Maitai River
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