Kaipara River

River in the Auckland Region, New Zealand

36°45′33″S 174°30′31″E / 36.75906°S 174.5085°E / -36.75906; 174.5085 MouthKaipara Harbour

• coordinates

36°37′03″S 174°25′12″E / 36.6175°S 174.42°E / -36.6175; 174.42Basin featuresProgressionKaipara River → Kaipara Harbour → Tasman SeaTributaries • leftWaimauku Stream, Waipatukahu Stream, Te Moau Stream, Te Wahanui Stream, Te Karaka Stream • rightWharauroa Stream, Mangakura Stream, Awaroa Stream, Pipitiwai Creek, Kaukapakapa RiverBridgesHelensville Bridge

The Kaipara River drains the area to the northwest of Auckland, New Zealand. It flows north from the northern foothills of the Waitākere Ranges, meandering past the town of Helensville. It is joined by the Kaukapakapa River in its lower tidal reaches shortly before entering the southern Kaipara Harbour. Other major tributaries are the Ararimu, Ahukuramu, Waimauku and Waipatukahu streams.^[1]

Description

The lower Kaipara River winds through swampland and farmland.^[2] The river water is brown, as it is rich in sediments washed in from the soft Miocene to Quaternary sediments within its catchment.

History

The area around the river was historically occupied by the Te Taoū hapu of Ngāti Whātua in the lower catchment near present-day Helensville, and by Te Kawerau ā Maki in the upper sections near Kumeū.^[3]

During European settlement in the latter 19th century, the course of the river was altered to better use the river to float timber for milling at Helensville.^[3]

References

^ "TP146 Kaipara River Catchment Water Allocation Strategy 2001 Part B" (PDF). Auckland City Council. 2001. p. 48.
^ Egarr, G. D.; Egarr, J. H. (1981). New Zealand Recreational River Survey Part II North Island Rivers (PDF) (Report). Water & Soil Division, Ministry of Works and Development. p. 15. ISSN 0110-4705.
^ ^a ^b "TP146 Kaipara River Catchment Water Allocation Strategy 2001 Part B" (PDF). Auckland City Council. 2001. Retrieved 22 February 2021.