Ruamahanga River

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Ruamahanga River
Ruamahanga River near Carter Scenic Reserve.jpg
NZ-Ruamahanga R.png
The Ruamahanga River system
Location
CountryNew Zealand
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationMount Dundas, Tararua Ranges
  elevation1,504 m (4,934 ft)
Mouth  
  location
Palliser Bay, Cook Strait
  elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Length158 km (98 mi)
Basin size3,470 km2 (1,340 sq mi)
Discharge 
  average81 m3/s (2,900 cu ft/s) [1]
Basin features
Tributaries 
  left Tauweru River
  right Waipoua River, Waingawa River, Waiohine River, Lake Wairarapa outlet

The Ruamahanga River runs through the southeastern North Island of New Zealand.

The river's headwaters are in the Tararua Range northwest of Masterton. From there it runs firstly south and then southwest for 130 kilometres (81 mi) before emptying into the Cook Strait. The towns of Masterton and Martinborough are close to the banks of the river. It is joined by many other rivers, including the Tauweru River near Gladstone. [2]

In its lower reaches, the river meanders across a large floodplain, culminating in the wetlands around the edges of Lake Wairarapa. The river once flowed into the lake, but has now been diverted. The river drains at Palliser Bay 10 kilometres (6 mi) further south.

The river has now become generally polluted from sewage and farming that prevents people from swimming in the river or its tributaries. [3]

Coordinates: 41°22′S175°09′E / 41.367°S 175.150°E / -41.367; 175.150

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Gladstone, New Zealand Locality in Wellington Region, New Zealand

Gladstone is a lightly populated locality in the Carterton District of New Zealand's North Island, located on the Mangahuia Stream near where the Tauweru River joins the Ruamahanga River. The nearest town is Carterton 15 kilometres to the northwest, and nearby settlements include Ponatahi to the west and Longbush to the south. It was named after British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone.

The Tauweru River, sometimes called the Taueru River, is a river in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. It drains from the pastoral eastern highlands of the Wairarapa and joins the Ruamahanga River just north of the Gladstone Road bridge into Gladstone, southeast of Carterton. The river's name is Māori for "hanging in clusters" and named after it is the town of Tauweru, located along the middle reaches of the river east of Masterton.

Te Whiti, formerly Te Whiti o Tu in the nineteenth century, is a rural community in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. Its status has been under dispute and threatened in the twentieth century, and Land Information New Zealand acknowledges Te Whiti solely as a homestead. Its full former name means "the place of crossing" in the Māori language, reflecting its location near a natural crossing of the Ruamahanga River where it is met by the Waingawa River. The Ruamahunga River runs north and west of the locality and is also met by the Tauweru River that flows across the south of Te Whiti. In relation to major Wairarapa centres, Te Whiti is south of Masterton and east of Carterton, while nearby communities include Te Whanga to the east and Gladstone and Longbush to the south. The Maungaraki Range is also nearby.

Tauweru, alternatively Taueru, and previously known as Wardell, or Wardelltown is a locality in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after and located on the middle reaches of the Tauweru River, which drains into the Ruamahanga River near Gladstone and Te Whiti, and the name is a Māori-language word meaning "hanging in clusters".

The Kopuaranga River is a river of the Wairarapa, in New Zealand's North Island. It flows generally south from rough hill country southwest of Eketahuna, reaching its outflow into the Ruamahanga River 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of Masterton.

The Tauanui River is a river of the South Wairarapa District of the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows northwest from its source in the Aorangi Range to reach the Ruamahanga River close to the southern end of Lake Wairarapa.

Waingawa River

The Waingawa River is a river of the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island and a major tributary of the Ruamahanga River.

Waiohine River

The Waiohine River is a river of the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island.

Solway, New Zealand Suburb of Masterton in Masterton District Council, New Zealand

Solway is an old-established residential suburb near the Waingawa River in the south-western part of Masterton, the principal town in the Wairarapa Valley of New Zealand's North Island. It was a small part of Manaia run on which Masterton is built. It takes its present name from Solway House built in 1877 for W. H. Donald.

The Turanganui River is a river in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It flows through the south Wairarapa from its source in the Aorangi Range to reach the Ruamahanga River shortly before the latter's outflow into Palliser Bay.

References

  1. NIWA Water & soil miscellaneous publication no. 48 (1983)
  2. Grant-Taylor, Thomas (1966). "RUAMAHANGA RIVER". Te Ara – 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  3. Harris, Caleb (6 January 2016). "Some of Wairarapa's best swimming holes are now too dried up or polluted to swim in". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 28 June 2018.