The Waiatarua Reserve is a nature reserve on the eastern

Auckland isthmus The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus ...

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 ...

, close to the suburbs of

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

, Meadowbank and St Johns. Originally the site of a freshwater lake, Waiatarua was drained in 1929. Since 1987, the reserve has been redeveloped as an urban wetland.

Geology

Lake St John and Mount Wellington, 1916 (cropped)

Waiatarua Park - Remuera Golf Course, 1946 (cropped)

Lake Waiatarua formed after the eruption of Maungarei / Mount Wellington, when a lava flow blocked the flow of a river valley which flowed into the

Tāmaki River The Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary is mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand.

, approximately 9,000 years ago.

History

The traditional

Tāmaki Māori Tāmaki Māori are Māori ''iwi'' and ''hapū'' (tribes and sub-tribes) who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland Region), and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the M ...

name for the lake, Waiatarua, means the "Waters of Reflection". The lake was an important freshwater resource for

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei or Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei is an Auckland-based Māori hapū (sub-tribe) in New Zealand. Together with Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa and Te Taoū, it comprises the iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Whātua. These four hapū can act togethe ...

, prior to European settlement. During the early colonial period of New Zealand, it was named Lake St John. The land adjoining the lake was acquired by

Bishop Selwyn George Augustus Selwyn (5 April 1809 – 11 April 1878) was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand. He was Bishop of New Zealand (which included Melanesia) from 1841 to 1869. His diocese was then subdivided and Selwyn was Metropolitan (late ...

in 1851, as a part of the grounds of the St John's College. In the 1870s, it was considered as a source for drinking water for the city of Auckland, however this plan did not eventuate. In 1908 the Waiatarua Drainage Board was formed, intending to drain the swamplands around the lake, despite wide public opposition to the plan. A tunnel was constructed underneath Remuera Road, in order to drain the lake into the

Ōrākei Basin Ōrākei Basin is one of the volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an explosion crater around 700 m wide, with a surrounding tuff ring. The present basin is slightly larger than the original maar cra ...

, which was completed by 1929. In 1934, the Remuera Golf Club was established on leased land to the east of the site of the drained lake. In 1987, the reserve was developed into an artificial wetland. It is currently the largest wetland restoration project in New Zealand, and in 2006

Auckland City Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland R ...

won the Arthur Mead Environmental Award due to the restoration efforts.

References

{{Ōrākei Local Board Area Constructed wetlands Protected areas of the Auckland Region Nature reserves in New Zealand Ōrākei Local Board Area Urban forests in New Zealand Wetlands of New Zealand