The Manawatu Plains is an area of low-lying land in New Zealand, located on the floodplains of the
Manawatu and
Rangitikei Rivers. It is some of the most fertile lands in the southwestern
North Island.
Stretching from the northern
Horowhenua
Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kapiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...
around
Levin in the south to
Marton in the north, the triangular area of land extends inland from the
South Taranaki Bight
The South Taranaki Bight is a large bay on the west coast of New Zealand, south of Taranaki, west of the Manawatu, north and west of the western entrance of Cook Strait and north of the South Island. The name is sometimes used for a much smaller ...
to almost as far as
Ashhurst
Ashhurst ( mi, Whārite) is a town and outlying suburb of Palmerston North, in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island.
Location
Ashhurst is sited 14 kilometres northeast of the Palmerston North city centre. The town s ...
at the mouth of the
Manawatu Gorge. It covers an area of around .
In the south, around
Lake Horowhenua, the plains were once an extensive wetland, which has been largely drained and turned into profitable
dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...
land. There are conservation moves in progress to restore some of these wetlands to their former state.
Further north, the plains provide the basis for the economy which drives 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 ...
and the towns of
Foxton,
Feilding
Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council.
Feilding has ...
, and
Bulls, all of which rely on the agricultural dollar to an extent.
As
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s, the land is not always entirely dry. Although the area receives slightly below the national average rainfall, floods can occur, as happened around the township of
Tangimoana
Tangimoana is a community in the Manawatū-Whanganui Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It had a population of 303 permanent residents in 2018. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Bulls, and 30 kilometres west of Palmerston North.
Th ...
in early 2004.
{{coord, -40.38, 175.41, region:NZ_type:landmark, display=title
Landforms of Manawatū-Whanganui
Plains of New Zealand
Floodplains of Oceania
Wetlands of New Zealand