Waihao River

The Waihao River is a natural watercourse in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.

[3] Its headwaters are in the Hunter Hills, foothills of the Southern Alps, and its catchment area is 550 square kilometres (210 sq mi).

However, a culvert known as the Waihao Box has been cut into the gravel berm that separates the river from the Pacific Ocean to provide permanent sea access.

[7] Environment Canterbury and the local council have implemented strategies to reduce flooding, including the maintenance of stopbanks, managing the riparian zone to lower erosion, and restricting development to mitigate damage.

This event stimulated a re-assessment of school policies, and partly as a response to the incident, new safety guidelines were issued by the Ministry of Education.