Waikato River

The Waikato River in Hamilton

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand. It is located in the center of the North Island - mostly in the Waikato region - and is 425 kilometers long.

The term Waikato is Māori and means " flowing water".

  • 4.1 The importance
  • 4.2 Water Quality

Geography

The origin of the river reaches far up into the Central Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand's North Island. The frequently referred to as Tongariro River still flow in this area arises from the confluence of different sources on the slopes of the 2,797 m high Mount Ruapehu. Further north, the Waikato flows into Lake Taupo, the largest lake in the Pacific state. On the northeast shore near the town of Taupo now designated exclusively as Waikato River forms the outlet of Lake Taupo. After the spectacular Huka Falls, he is oriented to the northwest, where it leaves the mountainous terrain for the first time and is flanked by the vast, almost completely agriculturally managed Waikato Plains. In this extremely fertile level there are numerous smaller settlements and the city Hamilton with about 185,000 inhabitants. Finally, it opens after a total of 425 kilometers at Port Waikato in the Tasman Sea. From Port Waikato up to Hamilton, the river is navigable.

History

The area around the river has already been cultivated by the Māori and used for agriculture. Especially the Iwi Tainui settled along the river course in the plane down. During the New Zealand Wars was the Waikato River 1863-1865 scene of some skirmishes between the natives and British soldiers. Even today the Waikato region and the south of the river belongs located, as King Country designated area of the regions with the most Māori. The Tainui tribe filed a petition with the Waitangi Tribunal to obtain sovereignty over all riparian areas of the river. The King movement of Māori from the 1850s has its origins in the region. Even today, resides the official representative of Māori, since August 2006 Tuheitia Paki (previously: Te Atairangikaahu ) in Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia -.

Flora & Fauna

Flora

Before the arrival of humans, the area around the river consisted largely of freshwater wetlands that were overgrown with native plants. Of the 1840 available in the entire region 110,000 ha 30,000 ha only wetlands are present. The massive reduction of habitat for aquatic and marsh plants is only a problem of endemic flora. The other is the introduction of non- native plants. An example in relation to the Waikato River is the Alligator Weed, a subspecies of parrot sheet, which is one of the most aggressive pest plants on earth.

Fauna

On the whole length of the Waikato River live at least 19 different native and 10 introduced fish species and a variety of invertebrates. One must distinguish the species in the river even by those in the reservoirs. Examples of native fish are numerous types of galaxies, the eels ( esp. New Zealand eels ) and various types of Schläfergrundeln.

Current situation

Importance

The Waikato River has not only historically, culturally and ecologically very important for New Zealand, but is also important in terms of infrastructure and as a recreational area. Altogether there are along the river eight hydroelectric power plants, which supply a large part of the North Island with electricity. With an annual production of 4,000 gigawatt hours is covered by these power plants 13 % of the country's electricity consumption. This results also eight reservoirs, which represent a popular recreation area. Furthermore, the Waikato River drinking water for over 140,000 people ready.

Water quality

The water quality of the Waikato River is strongly affected by the partial lightly treated sewage of large cities, and more than ten large factories. Also located in Huntly, the largest thermal power plant in New Zealand, whose capacity is to be increased from the current 1,000 MW to 1,375 MW. To cool the river water will only be used at the moment (2006). Strict regulations regarding the maximum temperature of the water in order to protect the wildlife in the river, meant that the power plant on hot days often could not run with maximum performance. Remedy is to bring a new cooling tower. Other problems relate to the river, are agricultural pollution, the threat of navigation through soil erosion and the plans to pump large amounts of water of the river in the metropolis of Auckland.

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