Lake Rotokākahi or Green Lake, is one of four small lakes 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 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 ...

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 ...

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 Tikitapu (Blue Lake),

Lake Ōkāreka 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 t ...

, 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 flows to Lake Tarawera via the Wairoa Stream (also known as ) past the buried Te Wairoa village and its Wairere waterfall. The Wairoa Stream when it leaves Lake Rotokākahi has a mean flow rate of but it picks up subsurface water and tributaries so when it enters Lake Tarawera it has a mean flow rate of . From the air the lake looks emerald green related to its shallow, sandy bottom. The lake is above sea level and below the level of the neighbouring Lake Tikitapu to its north. Its eastern arm is separated from Lake Tikitapu by a lava dam generated during a

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals ( phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The miner ...

eruption, at the south-western margins of the

now dated at 15,635 ± 412 cal.yr BP,. It contains a small island in its western arm, Punaruku Island and its southern arm has a larger island Motutawa Island. While the catchment flows into the

Tarawera River The Tarawera River is in the Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand. It flows from Lake Tarawera, northeastwards across the northern flanks of the active volcano Mount Tarawera, and past the town of Kawerau before turning north, ...

watershed in due course, the south-western aspect of the lake is only a very short distance from the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

watershed.

Ecology

It is named for its abundance of (freshwater mussels). The lake had

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 ...

introduced in the 1870s.

Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

were introduced later. The lake is classified as mesotrophic, with moderate productivity and water quality, but has not been assessed recently. Its

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 ...

was 3.6 in 2014 which was a decline and relatively high for a local lake. This may be because 26.3% of its catchment was pasture in 2007.

History

The main tribe occupying the Lake Rotokakahi area at the time of European settlement were the Tuhourangi/Ngati Tumatawera, who had migrated from the Rotoiti area following various feuds with neighbouring tribes. During early European settlement Kaiteriria on the southern lake shore was a base for armed constabulary. The lake has been under the authority of the

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

Tūhourangi Tūhourangi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand with a rohe centered on Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Okaro, Lake Okareka, Lake Rotokākahi, Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotorua. It is part of the Te Arawa tribal confederation. Their marae include ...

and Ngati Tumatawera since 1948, when there was disturbance of the , and remains largely undisturbed"Lake Rotokakahi 2008 Report Card"
, Environment Bay of Plenty website

Motutawa

This small island in the lake is notable as the site of the 1822 slaughter of a part of

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

, as an act of vengeance for relatives killed by the same Ngapuhi warriors in Te Totara, Thames. This led to the revenge raid of

Hongi Hika Hongi Hika ( – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māor ...

in 1823. The island was the main historic stronghold of Tuhourangi/Ngati Wahiao, and tradition has it as the resting place of the bones of

Hinemoa Hinemoa was a woman of the Te Arawa, known in Māori culture, Māori tradition for swimming across Lake Rotorua to Mokoia island to be with Tūtānekai, with whom she was in love. The story has been widely transmitted and forms the basis for one ve ...

. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the Creative New Zealand, arts, Culture of New Zealand, culture, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, built heritage, Sport Ne ...

gives a translation of " tawa tree island" for .

Images

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotokākahi Lakes of the Bay of Plenty Region Okataina Volcanic Centre Volcanic crater lakes Taupō Volcanic Zone Sacred lakes