Hutt River, New Zealand
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The Hutt River (, or ; officially Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River) flows through the southern
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 ...
of
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. It flows south-west from the southern
Tararua Range The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...
for , forming a number of fertile
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
s, including Kaitoke, central
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
and
Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...
. The Hutt River Trail, a regional park administered by
Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, p ...
, runs alongside the eastern side of the river.


Toponymy

Early Māori residents, such as Ngāi Tara, called the river Te Awa Kairangi. Later Māori settlers named it Te Wai o Orutu after Orutu, a Ngāti Mamoe ancestor. By the time European settlers arrived, Māori called it Heretaunga, a name adopted by an Upper Hutt suburb and
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
. The river was named ''Hutt'' after Sir William Hutt, chairman of the
New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...
. This name was given by Captain Edward Main Chaffers and Colonel William Wakefield while charting
Port Nicholson A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...
in 1839. The official name since 2011 is Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River.


Geography

For most of its length, the Hutt is a shallow and sometimes
braided river A braided river (also called braided channel or braided stream) consists of a network of river channel (geography), channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called ''braid bars'' or, in British English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. ...
in a wide rocky bed, but in the Kaitoke gorge the river flows directly over
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...
, and approaching the mouth at Petone the river is narrower and the banks steeper. The larger populated areas in Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt are protected from flooding by stopbanks and introduced willow trees, as is common in New Zealand. The
headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...
in the Kaitoke Regional Park are closed to preserve the quality of the
drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
drawn off at Kaitoke to supply the greater Wellington area. Below Kaitoke is the Kaitoke Gorge, a popular destination for
rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
. Below the gorge is
Te Mārua Te Mārua (previously also known as Te Marua) is the easternmost urban suburb of Upper Hutt. For reasons of location and distance from the city, the area is often classified as rural. In December 2019, the approved official geographic name of t ...
, where the Mangaroa River joins the Hutt from the east. Further down, at
Birchville Birchville is a suburb of Upper Hutt, New Zealand in the North Island. Its centre lies at the entrance to the Akatarawa Valley, in the north of the city, near confluence of the Akatarawa River with the Hutt River (New Zealand), Hutt River. It i ...
, the Akatarawa River joins the Hutt from the west. Here it flows in a deep channel between the surrounding hills and is turned to flow across the
Wellington Fault The Wellington Fault is an active seismic fault in the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a dextral (right-lateral) strike-slip fault with variable amounts of vertical movement causing uplift to the northwest, as expressed ...
to Maoribank. The movement of the fault can be seen from the displacement of the river terraces in Harcourt Park. At the top of the Upper Hutt floodplain, the river makes a sharp turn against the bedrock at the foot of the cliff at Maoribank to flow down the valley. The Upper Hutt
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
contains the greater portion of Upper Hutt city. The Whakatiki River joins the Hutt from the west and it is about this point the river starts to flow along the virtually straight Wellington
geologic fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
, which lies on the western side of the river valley. At the lower end of the Upper Hutt floodplain is Taita Gorge, which separates Upper Hutt from
Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...
; this gorge is significantly shorter and less constricting than Kaitoke Gorge. The river's outflow, at
Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...
, is into
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
. The geological fault that the river previously followed continues as a steep bluff at the edge of the
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
. The Waiwhetu artesian aquifer, sometimes referred to as the Hutt Aquifer, is a pressurized zone of water-retaining sand, gravel and boulders beneath the
Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zea ...
and
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
which provides about 40% of the public fresh water supply for
Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...
and
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
city. Water flows down into the aquifer from a five-kilometre stretch of the Hutt River south of Taita Gorge, at the rate of 1000 litres per second. It takes several years for water in the underground aquifer to reach Waterloo from the Taita Gorge, and about 10 years to reach the
Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...
foreshore. The water level in Wellington Harbour was much lower 20,000 years ago, and the ancient Hutt River used to flow down a paleochannel to the east of Matiu / Somes Island as far as the present-day
Miramar Peninsula Te Motu Kairangi / Miramar Peninsula is a large peninsula on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was ...
. Much of the water in the Waiwhetu Aquifer moves under the sea bed from the direction of the Hutt River to the Falcon Shoals area (between Karaka Bay and
Worser Bay Worser Bay in Wellington, New Zealand is along the beach from Seatoun and over the hill from Miramar on the Miramar Peninsula. It has a calm sandy beach with a road running along the base of the Seatoun Heights hill. Houses run all along the ...
) at the harbour mouth via the paleochannel. State Highway 2 follows the course of the river for most of its length, with the exception of the Kaitoke Gorge and the head waters, before crossing the
Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (also spelt Rimutaka Range) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua Range, Tararua, then Ruahine Range, Ruahine Ranges, running para ...
into 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 t ...
.


History

In the early nineteenth century, the Hutt River was deeper than it is now and navigable for some distance by large canoes and boats. Māori would take produce grown in the Hutt Valley down the river by canoe and across the harbour to Wellington city. Thick bush grew down to the water's edge. When early European settlers cleared the bush, the river banks began to disintegrate and collapse into the river. This led to soil being washed into the river, more flooding and changes in the river's course. Writing in 1880, James Coutts Crawford described the river as he had seen it in 1840:
The alluvial land on the banks of the Hutt was at this time covered by a dense forest, many of the trees being of gigantic size. Boats could ascend the river to the locality of the present bridge ear the current Ewen Bridge and the sight of the foliage on the banks at this point, with the white clematis hanging in graceful folds from the lofty branches, was superb. The river being much narrower that it is now, while the valley was under forest, the flood waters would necessarily be held back, and the scour and rush of gravel and sand that has since contributed to widen it did not then prevail to nearly the same extent.
The river was also changed by a major earthquake in 1855 that raised the riverbed. The regular flooding of Lower Hutt resulted in highly fertile land and prior to the building of
state housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
by the first Labour Government starting in 1937, there were many market gardens in Lower Hutt. Well-established foot tracks along the river were formally signposted in the 1990s, through a collaboration between
Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, p ...
, local
Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...
clubs,
Hutt City Council The Hutt City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt is the country's seventh largest city. The city borders Porirua to the north, Upper Hutt to the northeast, South Wairarapa District ...
, Upper Hutt City Council and other groups.


Recreation

The Hutt River Trail, a 29 kilometre cycling and walking route, follows the entire length of the river from
Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...
to Kaitoke Regional Park at
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...
, linking up to Kaitoke Regional Park. Most of the track is gravel, but some is sealed or grass. Some low-lying parts of the track can be affected by flooding. There are several spots for swimming, fishing and kayaking. The trail includes some filming locations for the Lord of the Rings film franchise. The Lower Hutt
Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...
runs along the last section of the Hutt River from just north of the Ewen Bridge down to the Waione Street Bridge and back.


Ecology

The river has a good stock of brown trout.


Bridges

Heading downstream: *Kaitoke Swingbridges, two footbridges in Kaitoke Regional Park. *Te Mārua Bridgem a demolished bridge. *Akatarawa Road Bridge, a two-lane road bridge opened in 1981 to replace a single-lane road bridge opened in 1915 and demolished in 1982. Abutments of the old bridge remain in the adjacent downstream riverbank and a pier footing remains in the river bed. *Akatarawa Bridge, the old Hutt County Council wooden truss bridge that crossed the river near the intersection of Rata Street and Birch Terrace with Akatarawa Road. The bridge was constructed in 1880-81 and closed in 1953. Piers were damaged by flooding and then demolished and removed from riverbed in 1998. *Hutt Borough Council Pipe Bridge was constructed adjacent to the Akatarawa Bridge in 1913 to carry the Hutt Borough Council water supply pipes until decommissioned in 1958. It was damaged by flooding, and demolished in 1998 at the same time as the Akatarawa Bridge. *Norbert Street Footbridge between California Park in Totara Park and Harcourt Park at the end of Norbert Street in Birchville. *Maoribank Suspension Bridge was built in 1917, crossing at the bend in the river at the foot of Maoribank Cliff. The bridge was demolished in 1998, after the cliffside pier was damaged by flooding, making the bridge unsafe. *Totara Park Bridge (Totara Park Road), a two-lane road bridge, opened about 1970 and provides access to the suburb of Totara Park. *Moonshine Bridge (River Road/ SH 2), a curved two-lane road bridge, was opened in 1987 as part of the River Road bypass of Upper Hutt. It replaced a road bridge slightly upstream of the current bridge. *Silverstream Road Bridge (Fergusson Drive), a two-lane road bridge, carries a bulk water supply pipe, underslung on the north side, connecting Te Mārua water treatment plant with Porirua and Wellington City. *Silverstream Rail Bridge (Wairarapa Line), a double-track rail bridge, opened in 1954 to replace the 1875 single-track rail bridge around 500 metres further downstream. *Pomare Rail Bridge (Wairarapa Line), a double-track rail bridge, opened in 1954 as part of the Hutt Valley railway deviation. *Kennedy-Good Bridge (Fairway Drive), a two-lane road bridge, opened in 1979 and was the first bridge at this site. The bridge is named after the Mayor of Lower Hutt at the time. *Melling Bridge (Melling Link Road), a three-lane bridge opened 1957, with one eastbound lane and two westbound lanes. This is the second bridge at this site, the first being a one-lane suspension bridge opened in 1909, approximately 200 metres upstream. *New Ewen Bridge is a single span arch bridge carrying four traffic lanes of traffic and footways. It is the seventh bridge at this site and was opened in 1996. The preceding bridges, which crossed nearer to Bridge Street, upstream of the latest bridge, were opened in 1844, 1847, 1856, 1872, 1904 and 1929. *The Rail Bridge (Wairarapa Line) is a two-track rail bridge with pedestrian walkway. It was opened in 1927 with the then
Hutt Valley Line The Hutt Valley Line is the electrified train service operated by Transdev Wellington on behalf of Metlink on the section of the Wairarapa Line railway between Wellington and Upper Hutt, New Zealand. History Construction The Hutt Valley ...
to Waterloo. *Waione Street Bridge (Hutt Estuary Bridge) is a two-lane road bridge opened in 1954, that carries a bulk water supply pipe connecting Waterloo and Wainuiomata water treatment plants with Wellington City.


References


External links

* * {{Protected areas of New Zealand Lower Hutt Upper Hutt Rivers of the Wellington Region Hutt Valley