Mangaone Stream

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Mangaone Stream, Palmerston North, looking west from Highbury Avenue. Mangaone Stream west.jpg
Mangaone Stream, Palmerston North, looking west from Highbury Avenue.

The Mangaone Stream is a small watercourse in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Contents

The stream has its headwaters near Pohangina, and flows south-west across the Manawatū Plains and through Bunnythorpe and the northern and western parts of Palmerston North, including the suburbs of Milson, Cloverlea, and Westbrook, Palmerston North before joining the Manawatū River on the western outskirts of Awapuni. Within the city it is fed by the Kawau Stream. [1] : 9  The total catchment is 165 square kilometres. [2]

In 2018 the stream was discovered to have been contaminated by PFOS from firefighting foams used at Palmerston North Airport. [3]

From 2019 to 2022 the stream was one of the targets of the Palmy's Plastic Pollution Challenge citizen science project. [4]

Flooding

The stream regularly flooded in the early years of Palmerston North. [5] [6] It was straightened and deepend in 1907 in an effort to limit flooding, [7] but floods continued. [8]

The stream overflowed its stopbanks in 1988, causing significant flooding in Palmerston North. [9] The flood led to a significant upgrade to the city's flood defences. As of 2014 the stream was stopbanked for almost its entire length within the city, with only a short section near its confluence with the Manawatū River unprotected. [1] : 8  The stopbanks were further upgraded in 2022 [10] and 2024. [11]

Recreational use

The stream passes through a number of parks in Palmerston North, including Bill Brown Park in Westbrook and Rangitane Park in Awapuni. The entire length of the stream within Palmerston North is part of the Mangaone Stream Shared Pathway. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 "LOWER MANAWATU SCHEME & ASHHURST STREAM SCHEME: Responsibilities for the maintenance of channel management, flood control and river bank amenity assets within Palmerston North City" (PDF). Horizons Regional Council. July 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "UPPER MANGAONE STREAM: Final Report" (PDF). DHI Water and Environment Limited. April 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "Foam contamination found in streams around Palmerston North airport". RNZ. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  4. ↑ "Challenge to clean up Palmerson North's waterways launched". Stuff. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "FLOODS FROM THE MANGAONE". Manawatu Standard. 6 June 1907. p. 5. Retrieved 16 November 2025– via Papers Past.
  6. ↑ "HEAVY WEATHER". Manawatu Times. 11 July 1911. p. 5. Retrieved 16 November 2025– via Papers Past.
  7. ↑ "Food basket to floodway: the story of Awapuni Lagoon and Mangaone Stream". EnviroHistory NZ. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  8. ↑ "ON CITY BOUNDARY". Manawatu Standard. 18 August 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 16 November 2025– via Papers Past.
  9. ↑ Kaydee Zabelin (26 August 2023). "Back Issues: The night the rains came - and kept on coming". Manawatū Standard. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  10. ↑ "Horizons Regional Council's Rachel Keedwell: Boosting Palmerston North's flood defences". New Zealand Herald. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  11. ↑ "Mangaone Stream banks to be strengthened". Manawatū Standard. 31 October 2024. Archived from the original on 8 December 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "Mangaone Stream Shared Pathway". Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
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