The Tauweru River, sometimes called the Taueru River, is a river in the
Wairarapa
The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...
region of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
'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
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 C ...
for "hanging in clusters" and named after it is the town of
Tauweru
Tauweru, alternatively Taueru, and previously known as Wardell,Sharpe, Marty, 6 July 2002, ''Wairarapa Times-Age''. or WardelltownResults of the New Zealand Census, 28 March 1886/ref> is a locality in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North ...
, located along the middle reaches of the river east of
Masterton.
The river itself is slow and sluggish, flowing in a willow-lined, restricted and gravel-less channel. A group of local farmers, the Mid-Tauweru Landcare Group, was established in 2000 to facilitate sound management of the river's
riparian zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
by replacing willows with native plants to enhance the river's flow and biodiversity. Its
catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
east of Masterton is extensive and
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
conditions in the lower three kilometres of the river are considered to be excellent, especially in summer.
Fish and Game New Zealand: Wellington - Fishing - Access
References
Rivers of the Wellington Region
Rivers of New Zealand
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