The Swanson Stream is a stream of the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...

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 ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. It flows north-east from its source the

Waitākere Ranges The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...

through rural West Auckland towards the suburb of

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...

, into the Huruhuru Creek which exits into

Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek The Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek is an estuarine river of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north from its sources in the Henderson Valley and Titirangi, before reaching the western Waitematā Harbour. Geography ...

and the western the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

. Since the mid-2000s, the stream has been forested with native flora.

Geography

The stream begins in the

north-east of the catchment of the Waitākere Reservoir, at Pukematekeo. It flows north-east to the outer Auckland suburb of

. The Swanson Stream enters into the Huruhuru Creek, which flows into

and the western

. The river has a number of major tributaries, including the Momutu Stream at Te Rangi Hiroa Reserve, at the division between the suburbs of Rānui and

Massey Massey may refer to: Places Canada * Massey, Ontario * Massey Island, Nunavut New Zealand * Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb United States * Massey, Alabama * Massey, Iowa * Massey, Maryland People * Massey (surname) Educati ...

, the Waiomoko Stream and the Billy Joe Stream. The stream is a habitat for the

New Zealand longfin eel The New Zealand longfin eel (''Anguilla dieffenbachii'') is a species of freshwater eel that is endemic to New Zealand. It is the largest freshwater eel in New Zealand and the only endemic species – the other eels found in New Zealand are the n ...

, the

short-finned eel The short-finned eel (''Anguilla australis''), also known as the shortfin eel, is one of the 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It is native to the lakes, dams and coastal rivers of south-eastern Australia, New Zealand, and much of th ...

, cran's bully,

common bully The common bully (''Gobiomorphus cotidianus''), or toitoi (Māori), is a fish endemic to New Zealand, and is present throughout the country. There are three other bully species that can be confused with common bullies. There are few characterist ...

(toitoi),

redfin bully The redfin bully (''Gobiomorphus huttoni'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to New Zealand. Being amphidromous, it spends part of its life cycle at sea. Males have distinctive bright red patterns and stripes on t ...

, New Zealand smelt, banded kōkopu,

common galaxias The common galaxias (''Galaxias maculatus'') or inanga (from the Māori ''īnanga'') is a very widespread Southern Hemisphere fish in the family Galaxiidae. It is a slim, narrow fish with a forked tail and a mottled, spotty pattern, typically a ...

(īnanga) and

torrentfish The torrentfish (''Cheimarrichthys fosteri''), or panoko (Māori), is an amphidromous freshwater fish that is endemic to New Zealand. Torrentfish are well adapted to life in shallow, fast-flowing riffles and rapids. They grow to a maximum of in ...

(panoko). The land adjacent to the stream form an alluvial flood zone, which was historically forested by

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

, tītoki and west coast kōwhai.

History

The stream is in the

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''. The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...

Te Kawerau ā Maki Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Kawerau a Maki, or Te Kawerau-a-Maki is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. Auckland Council gave it land for a marae at Te Henga (Bethells Be ...

, and was traditionally known as Waiwhauwhaupaku, a name which refers to the ''

Pseudopanax arboreus ''Pseudopanax arboreus'' or five finger (Māori: ''puahou'' or ''whauwhaupaku''), is a New Zealand native tree belonging to the family Araliaceae. It is one of New Zealand's more common native trees, being found widely in bush, scrub and garden ...

'' (five-finger tree) which profusely grew in densely forested the area. The stream was important to Te Kawerau ā Maki, who harvested the resources of the stream, including eels and harakeke flax that was harvested for use as textiles. The stream's valley was an important walking track, linking Wai Huruhuru Manawa (the south-western arm of Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek) to Pukearuhe, the pā above Swanson, and

Waitākere River The Waitākere River is a river of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north then west from its sources in the Waitākere Ranges, reaching the Tasman Sea at Te Henga / Bethells Beach, to the south of Muriwai Beach. The up ...

vallery settlements along the northern Pukewhakataratara ridge, such as Te Henga / Bethells Beach. The river is named after William Swanson, who immigrated to New Zealand and settled in the area in 1852 to log

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

. The Swanson Stream was one of the earliest waterways dammed for kauri logging in West Auckland. By the 1870s, William Swanson was a strong critic of kauri logging practices. Between the mid-2000s and the 2020s, large-scale riparian planting was undertaken along the Swanson Stream as a part of Project Twin Streams.

References

Henderson-Massey Local Board Area Rivers of the Auckland Region Te Kawerau ā Maki Waitākere Ranges Local Board Area Waitematā Harbour catchment West Auckland, New Zealand {{Auckland-river-stub

Geography

History

See also

References