Hokowhitu Lagoon, also sometimes called Centennial Lagoon, is a natural

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

in the city of

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, New Zealand. Hokowhitu was created from a meander of the Manawatu River. Many features surround the lagoon including a walkway,

Caccia Birch House Caccia-Birch House (previously: Nannestad Homestead, Woodhey, Vice-Regal Residence, The Convalescent Home for Women of the Services) is a New Zealand colonial homestead and a Heritage New Zealand Category I Historic Place. It is located at 130 Te ...

, and a former campus of a

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

— the facilities of which are now used by the

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is an indigenous tertiary education provider with over 80 campuses throughout New Zealand. As a Māori-led organisation grounded in Māori values, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is committed to the revitalisation of Māori cultu ...

and the Abbey Theatre Company. The lagoon also gives its name to the surrounding suburb,

Hokowhitu Hokowhitu is a riverside suburb of the New Zealand city of Palmerston North, with some of the highest property values in the city. The Palmerston North Teachers' College was built in Hokowhitu in the 1960s. Massey University took over the college ...

. An artesian bore, which was completed in 2009, is drilled into an underground aquifer which supplies the lagoon with 250,000 litres of water daily.

Features

Hokowhitu Lagoon is home to many water-life and birds.

Perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

is the most common fish in the lagoon, with 44 fish per 100m². A walk follows the shore of the lagoon and is popular with local leisure seekers. The walk includes a truss bridge which crosses the lagoon at roughly its halfway mark. The

, a Category I Historic location, sits on the northern side of the lagoon. The house was built in 1892 and was donated to the government in 1941.

Diminishing water levels

During 2014 the lagoon's water levels dropped as the

2014 Eketahuna earthquake The 2014 Eketahuna earthquake struck at 3:52 pm on 20 January, centred 15 km east of Eketahuna on the south-east of New Zealand's North Island. It had a maximum perceived intensity of VII (''Very strong'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. ...

opened up channels in the underside of the lake. The leaking continued and in December 2014 environmentally-safe dye was put into the water to help locate leaks. The Artesian Bore, which was built in 2009, cannot compete with the heavy leaking. During mid-2016 a dive team was sent to investigate the lagoon bed to locate a source of the leaking.

References

{{Reflist Palmerston North Lakes of Manawatū-Whanganui

Features

Diminishing water levels

See also

References