Lake Ōkāreka (also spelled Okareka, Ōkareka and just termed ) is one of four small

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s lying between

Lake Rotorua Lake Rotorua () is the second largest lake in the North Island of New Zealand by surface area, and covers 79.8 km2. With a mean depth of only 10 metres it is considerably smaller than nearby Lake Tarawera in terms of volume of water. It i ...

and

Lake Tarawera Lake Tarawera is the largest of a series of lakes which surround the volcano Mount Tarawera in the North Island of New Zealand. Like the mountain, it lies within the Ōkataina Caldera. It is located to the east of Rotorua, and beneath the peak ...

, in the

Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty Region is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region in the North Island of New Zealand. Also called just the Bay of Plenty (BOP), it is situated around the Bay of Plenty, marine bight of that same name. The bay was name ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. The others are

Lake Rotokākahi Lake Rotokākahi or Green Lake, is one of four small lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of ...

(Green Lake), Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake), and

Lake Ōkataina Lake Ōkataina (also spelled Okataina; or ) is the northernmost and largest of four smaller lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The others are Lake Rotokākahi (Green Lak ...

. All lie within the

Ōkataina Caldera Ōkataina Caldera (Ōkataina Volcanic Centre, also spelled Okataina) is a volcano, volcanic caldera and its associated volcanoes located in Taupō Volcanic Zone of New Zealand's North Island. It has several actual or postulated sub calderas. The ...

, along its western edge.

Geography

The lake has a circumference of and with an autumn mean lake level of , lies about above

. Its outlet flows underground for half a mile and forms the Waitangi waterfall. Lake Ōkāreka seems to be connected with Tarawera by underground channels. About in all, flows from Lake Ōkareka's catchment into Lake Tarawera. The lake's maximum height is now regulated to by adjusting a valve in the Waitangi Stream Drain.

Geology

The lake is closely related to the Ōkareka Embayment on the western margins of the Ōkataina Caldera. Likely formative and modifying eruptions were the Te Rere rhyolite eruption of 25,171 ± 964 years BP and the Rotorua eruption of 15,635 ± 412 cal.yr BP. The effusive rhyolite dome forming process's to the lake's south east after these events would have modified its drainage into Lake Tarawera.

History

This small and little-visited lake is surrounded by hills nearly everywhere, and is a heavy hunting area. It is quite near, but out of sight from the tourist motor route of

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

and Tarawera. A side road, Ōkāreka Loop Road, gives access to it. During the late 19th century, settlers acquired some of the land around it, and built houses on Ōkāreka. Some of the frontage is still in private hands, but the greater part of the basin in which the lake lies has now become residential property. Ōkāreka means "the lake of sweet food". It was first described in print by Sir

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

, who visited it on the course of his travels through

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

in 1849–1850. The route from Ohinemutu to Tarawera was a track which skirted the shore of Ōkāreka and reached the large lake, near the mission station called Galilei. Grey's journal reads: Grey is also presumed to have introduced Dama Wallaby to the area around Ōkāreka, where they presently still pose a problem. The shores of Ōkāreka were a scene of Māori life. Cultivations along the lake were common, and Māori fished the waters for

whitebait Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine-mes ...

, koura crayfish and toitoi, which were common species in Lake Ōkāreka before

Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

was introduced. In the 1860s,

Alfred Domett Alfred Domett (20 May 18112 November 1887) was the fourth Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier of New Zealand, a close friend of the poet Robert Browning and author of the epic poem ''Ranolf and Amohia, a South Sea Day Dream''. Born in Englan ...

visited Ōkāreka and Tarawera, following a similar path to the one that Grey took. Known for its natural environment, this lake has an adjacent settlement of approximately 600 people. The lake is accessible from the tourist location of

. The forest nearby to Lake Ōkāreka extends to the western side of

and the Whakapoungakau Range.

Pollution

Lake Ōkāreka has reasonably clear, clean water and is used extensively for recreation such as

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

, swimming and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. However, the quality of the water has been declining over recent years due to excess levels of

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

. These nutrients come from surrounding

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

, residential

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

s and from the release of existing and accumulated nutrients from sediments on the lake bed. The Lake Ōkāreka Catchment Management Plan was developed in 2004. This is a long-term plan to improve the water quality of the lake, through changes like

sewage reticulation Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residen ...

, in-lake chemical treatment and farm nutrient management. It has been calculated that the load nutrients needed to reach the target TLI of 3.0 are 2.5 tonnes per year of nitrogen and 0.08 tonnes per year of phosphorus. The

trophic level index The trophic level index (TLI) is used in New Zealand as a measure of nutrient status of lakes. It is similar to the trophic state index but was proposed as alternative that suited New Zealand. The system uses four criteria, phosphorus and nitrog ...

(TLI) is an overall indication of lake health based on a number of different criteria, values represent a three-yearly average. Better quality sites have a lower TLI. The three-yearly average for Ōkāreka indicates little change over the last five years, being 3.3 in 2014.

Lake Okareka township

The township on the shores of Lake Ōkareka is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement, and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Lake Okareka township is part of the larger Kaingaroa-Whakarewarewa statistical area. Before the 2023 census, the settlement had a larger boundary, covering . Using that boundary, Lake Okareka had a population of 519 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, a decrease of 18 people (−3.4%) since the 2013 census, and unchanged since the 2006 census. There were 183 households, comprising 255 males and 258 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female, with 102 people (19.7%) aged under 15 years, 75 (14.5%) aged 15 to 29, 246 (47.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 87 (16.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 94.2% European/

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 10.4%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 2.3% Pacific peoples, 1.7% Asian, and 1.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.9% had no religion, 38.2% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and 0.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 186 (44.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 36 (8.6%) people had no formal qualifications. 126 people (30.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 210 (50.4%) people were employed full-time, 75 (18.0%) were part-time, and 9 (2.2%) were unemployed.

References

External links

Environment Bay of Plenty
– Regional Council page
Lake Okareka Ratepayers' & Residents' Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okareka, Lake Lakes of the Bay of Plenty Region Okataina Volcanic Centre Volcanic crater lakes