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Lake Waikaremoana | |
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Location | Wairoa District, Hawke's Bay Region, North Island |
Coordinates | 38°46′S177°05′E / 38.767°S 177.083°E |
Primary outflows | Waikaretaheke River |
Basin countries | New Zealand |
Surface area | 54 km2 (21 sq mi) |
Average depth | 75 m (246 ft) |
Max. depth | 256 m (840 ft) |
Water volume | 4.06 km3 (0.97 cu mi) |
Shore length1 | 102.3 km (63.6 mi) |
Surface elevation | 600 m (2,000 ft) |
Settlements | Āniwaniwa |
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. |
Lake Waikaremoana is located in Te Urewera in the North Island of New Zealand, 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Wairoa and 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-southwest of Gisborne. It covers an area of 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi). From the Māori Waikaremoana translates as 'sea of rippling waters'. [1]
The lake lies within the tribal boundaries of Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa. The hamlet of Aniwaniwa and the Waikaremoana Holiday Park are located on the lakeshore, along SH38 (from Wai-O-Tapu via Murupara to Wairoa), which connects the lake to the central North Island (Rotorua) and Gisborne. There is a Department of Conservation office at Aniwaniwa. Several walks start here, including a short stroll to Āniwaniwa Falls.
The village of Onepoto is located on the lake's southern shores, close to the lake's old overflow channel and the intake of the Waikaremoana hydroelectric power scheme. The name Onepoto means short beach , and refers to the small bay to the north of the village with a beach only 60 metres (200 ft) long. [2]
Lake Waikaremoana is a holiday destination for people who use the lake for fishing, tramping and other recreational activities. The Lake Waikaremoana Track, one of New Zealand's "Great Walks", is a three- to four-day tramp which follows approximately half of the lake's circumference. The track can be walked independently, or as part of a guided group. There are huts dotted on the walk which require booking to use. Camping is permitted unless you are more than 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the track.
The climate of the area is temperate In the summer and cool during the winters, snowfalls occur a few times a year in the region.
Numbers of visitors to the area are limited to some extent as a result of the extensive unsealed road that must be taken to reach it. This makes Lake Waikaremoana significantly less congested with tourists than the other nine Great Walks in New Zealand. The smaller Lake Waikareiti lies four kilometres to the northeast.
Waikaremoana, the North Island's deepest lake (256 m deep), has its surface at 600 metres (2,000 ft) above sea level. A huge landslide dam about 250 metres (800 ft) high formed the lake around 2,200 years ago. [3] Before the landslip was sealed, around 1950, much of the lake outflow flowed through the landslip rather than out of an overflow at a low point in the slip. [3]
Other geographical features include Panekiri Bluff and Puketukutuku Peninsula, which is the site of a kiwi-conservation programme. Surrounded by mountains clad with native forest which has never been logged, Waikaremoana retains ecological importance. Many native bird-species scarce in most other parts of the North Island occur in the area. A possum-hunting programme operates in the area to help protect the forest. Numerous understory species grow within the forested area of the catchment basin, crown fern (Lomaria discolor), for example. [4] Since at least the early 1900s lake-bottom molluscs have been studied by Colenso (1811-1899) and others. [5]
The climate of Lake Waikaremoana is temperate during the summer months and cool in the winter where snow events are not unheard of. Heavy rains affect the region, especially about late winter and early spring. The weather in the area is very changeable, trampers in the region need to be on the look out for dangerous weather conditions.
Climate data for Waikaremoana, elevation 643 m (2,110 ft), (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 21.4 (70.5) | 21.3 (70.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 15.9 (60.6) | 13.0 (55.4) | 10.5 (50.9) | 9.3 (48.7) | 10.5 (50.9) | 12.9 (55.2) | 15.2 (59.4) | 17.5 (63.5) | 19.6 (67.3) | 15.5 (60.0) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 16.3 (61.3) | 16.4 (61.5) | 14.8 (58.6) | 12.1 (53.8) | 9.7 (49.5) | 7.3 (45.1) | 6.2 (43.2) | 7.0 (44.6) | 8.9 (48.0) | 10.7 (51.3) | 12.8 (55.0) | 15.0 (59.0) | 11.4 (52.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.2 (52.2) | 11.6 (52.9) | 10.2 (50.4) | 8.3 (46.9) | 6.3 (43.3) | 4.1 (39.4) | 3.2 (37.8) | 3.4 (38.1) | 4.8 (40.6) | 6.2 (43.2) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.4 (50.7) | 7.3 (45.2) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 135.0 (5.31) | 158.1 (6.22) | 230.9 (9.09) | 177.9 (7.00) | 173.5 (6.83) | 201.2 (7.92) | 176.0 (6.93) | 192.6 (7.58) | 210.7 (8.30) | 146.4 (5.76) | 118.2 (4.65) | 196.5 (7.74) | 2,117 (83.33) |
Source: NIWA (rain 1971–2000) [6] |
The Waikaremoana Hydroelectric Power Scheme is a rare example of a hydroelectric power station being built on a natural landslide dam. [7] [ page needed ] Another example is the Tortum Dam in Turkey.[ citation needed ]
The stability of the natural dam has been the subject of intense engineering review, both at the time of construction and subsequently. Construction of an outlet tunnel through the slip, which commenced in 1935, required extensive grouting around the control structures and throughout tunnel construction. Work was suspended at the end of 1936 because Bob Semple, the newly elected Minister for Public Works, wanted the tunnelling project reconsidered for "risk, cost and value". A new tunnelling scheme was devised in 1941 based on what had been learned from initial exploratory tunnelling and work recommenced in 1943 and continued for about five years because of continual problems with dewatering the tunnels. After the tunnels and intake headworks had been completed the natural dam was sealed for leaks on the lake side by removing submerged timber, a task that took a year and then applying 40,000 cubic metres (1,400,000 cu ft) of crushed rock and clay-like pumice in six layers, then covering those layers with a top layer of larger rock and spalls to protect the material from wave action. This sealing reduced the natural flow by about 80%. The sealing of the lake was only done after tunnelling was completed otherwise it would have caused the lake level to rise and make tunnelling more difficult. As it was, the lake level had to be lowered by temporary syphons to enable the construction of the headworks and make sealing of the natural dam easier. [3]
Although the Waikaretaheke River carries a flow of about 17 cubic metres per second (600 cu ft/s) from Lake Waikaremoana, the head of water through the three power stations, Kaitawa, Tuai, and Piripaua is around 450 metres (1,500 ft), allowing the stations to potentially generate 138 megawatts all up. The 250-metre (800 ft) head of water for the Kaitawa station is the highest for a power station in New Zealand and among the highest in the world. [3]
The East Cape War, sometimes also called the East Coast War, was a series of conflicts fought in the North Island of New Zealand from April 1865 to October 1866 between colonial and Māori military forces. At least five separate campaigns were fought in the area during a period of relative peace in the long-running 19th century New Zealand Wars.
In New Zealand, long distance walking or hiking for at least one overnight stay is known as tramping. There are a number of walkways in New Zealand, however most of these are relatively short and can be walked in a day or less. Many are also an easy walk, with well formed footpaths. However, some tracks require an overnight stay either because of the rugged country or the length of the track.
Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering 12,607 km2 (4,868 sq mi), and a major part of the Te Wāhipounamu a UNESCO World Heritage Site established in 1990. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation. The southern ranges of the Southern Alps cover most of Fiordland National Park, combined with the deep glacier-carved valleys.
Mount Aspiring National Park is in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, north of Fiordland National Park, situated in Otago and Westland regions. The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site.
Te Urewera National Park was a national park near the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, established as such in 1954 and disestablished in 2014, when it was replaced by a new legal entity and protected area named Te Urewera. The park covered an area of approximately 2,127 km2 and was located in the north of the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island. It was the largest of four national parks in the North Island and the most isolated rainforest in the region.
The Rangitaiki River is the longest river in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand's North Island. It is 155 kilometres (96 mi) long, and rises inland from northern Hawkes Bay to the east of the Kaingaroa Forest. The Rangitaiki catchment covers an area of 3005 km2. It flows in a generally northeastward direction, passing through the town of Murupara and skirting close to the western edge of Te Urewera National Park before turning northwards, flowing past Edgecumbe and into the Bay of Plenty close to Thornton.
Ruatāhuna is a small town in the remote country of Te Urewera, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 90 kilometres directly west of Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana. By road, it is 50 kilometres south-east of Murupara, and 110 kilometres north-west of Wairoa. It is on the upper reaches of the Whakatāne River, and surrounded on three sides by the Te Urewera protected area, formerly the Te Urewera National Park. The road that runs from Murupara through Ruatahuna to Āniwaniwa on Lake Waikaremoana, a large part of which is unsealed, used to be designated as part of State Highway 38. It is a subdivision of the Galatea-Murupara ward of the Whakatāne District.
Lake Waikareiti, also spelt Lake Waikare Iti, is located in Te Urewera National Park in the North Island of New Zealand. A number of hiking trails are found within the catchment basin of the lake.
Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park.
The New Zealand Great Walks are a set of popular tramping tracks developed and maintained by the Department of Conservation. They are New Zealand's premier tracks, through areas of some of the best scenery in the country, ranging from coastlines with beaches to dense rain forests and alpine terrain. The tracks are maintained to a high standard, making it easier for visitors to explore some of the most scenic parts of New Zealand's backcountry.
The Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk is a 44-kilometre (27 mi) tramping track which follows the southern and western coast of Lake Waikaremoana in the North Island of New Zealand. Passing through several types of forest, and grassland, the track often provides views over the lake. It is classified as one of New Zealand's Great Walks, and is located in the former Te Urewera National Park.
The Wairoa River of the Hawke's Bay region in New Zealand runs south for 65 kilometres from the inland east coast region of the North Island, west of Gisborne, before flowing into northern Hawke Bay at the town of Wairoa.
Young River is in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It lies within the Mount Aspiring National Park and feeds into the Makarora River 3 kilometres (2 mi) upriver from Makarora.
A landslide dam or barrier lake is the natural damming of a river by some kind of landslide, such as a debris flow, rock avalanche or volcanic eruption. If the damming landslide is caused by an earthquake, it may also be called a quake lake. Some landslide dams are as high as the largest existing artificial dam.
State Highway 38 is a road in the North Island of New Zealand that starts from SH 5 near Waiotapu, and ends at Wairoa, where it connects to SH 2. It is the shortest connection from the central North Island (Rotorua) to the East Coast (Gisborne), but it is not often used as such. Large parts of the road are narrow and winding, and about 74 kilometres (46 mi) of the road is unsealed. Travel on this highway takes roughly four hours.
The Tongariro Power Scheme is a 360 MW hydroelectricity scheme in the central North Island of New Zealand. The scheme diverts water from tributaries of the Rangitikei, Whangaehu, Whanganui, and Tongariro rivers. These rivers drain a 2,600-square-kilometre (1,000 sq mi) area including Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and the western Kaimanawa Ranges. The water diverted from these rivers is sent through canals and tunnels to generate electricity at three hydro power stations, Rangipo (120 MW), Tokaanu (240 MW) and Mangaio (2 MW). The water is then discharged into Lake Taupō where it adds to the water storage in the lake and enables additional electricity generation in the succession of power stations down the Waikato River.
The Motukawa Power Station is a hydroelectric power facility in Taranaki in New Zealand which makes use of water from the Manganui River. Water is drawn from behind a weir on the Manganui River near Tariki and diverts this water through a race to Lake Ratapiko and then through penstocks to the Motukawa Power Station. The power station discharges into the Mākara Stream, a tributary of the Waitara River.
Lake Āniwaniwa is a small man-made lake on the Rangitaiki River, in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. The lake is situated 13 km north of the town of Murupara, and about 16 km upstream of the Matahina Dam. The lake was created as a result of the construction of a 10 m high dam, part of the Aniwhenua hydroelectric scheme.
Lake Gault is a small glacial lake in South Westland, New Zealand, near the township of Fox Glacier. A walking track from Lake Matheson leads to the lake, which is surrounded by mature native forest. A small hydro-electric power plant was constructed piping water from the lake to power a gold mining dredge at Gillespies Beach. Endangered Ōkārito kiwi (rowi) have been released into the wild around Lake Gault.