The Motueka River is located in the north of the South Island of New Zealand and is a popular tourist destination for watersports and fishing. The Motueka flows from the mountains 40 km west of the city of Nelson in the southeast of the catchment and flows north to the Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. Geography The Motueka River lies 60 kilometres to the south of Nelson, and flows for 120 kilometres, first through rough hill country and then the more gently undulating terrain southwest of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, passing by many small communities such as Ngātīmoti, Woodstock, Riwaka, Brooklyn and many others as it makes its way its outflow into the bay close to the town of Motueka. These communities are connected to the town of Motueka in the north and in the south by the Motueka Valley Highway. The Motueka has three major tributaries, the Motupiko River, Wangapeka River and the Baton River, as well as smaller tributaries called the Pearse, Dove, Tadmor, and Rainy. Geology The river runs through a wide band of granite and areas of recent alluvium, with a complex mix of sedimentary and igneous rocks, originating from the mountainous terrain of the Arthur Range which form the western boundary of the catchment area. and a region of clay-bound gravels to the eastern boundary. As well as the granites, the wide variety of rock types found along the course of the river include complex basement rock, ultramafic, old and young sedimentary rocks. Flooding and river flow The Motueka is a large river with average annual flow of 59 cubic meters per second and a flow range from 6 to more than 2,100 cubic meters per second. The average monthly flow has seasonal variation and it at its highest in winter and spring. The mountain catchment areas to the west and southeast have the highest rainfall and provide most of the mean annual flow for the Motueka River. Significant flooding was a serious problem for the local population and a major flood in 1877 led to widespread erosion and changed the course of the river in several areas. There have since been serious flooding in January 1895, July 1929, June 1954 and April 1957 but this was thought to have been addressed when the Motueka Catchment Control Scheme was completed in 1982. In May 2010, however, twenty homes were flooded by the Motueka River