Wairaki Stream

File:Duck Creek (Wairaki Stream), Lynfield (cropped).jpg.]]

Wairaki is the traditional Tāmaki Māori name for the stream. The name refers to the northerly flow of the upper section of the stream.{{cite web|url=https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/parks-recreation/Pages/park-details.aspx?Location=75#story |title=Story of Wairaki |website=Auckland Council |access-date=23 September 2024}}{{cite report|url=https://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2022/08/PKTPP_20220818_AGN_10789_AT_files/PKTPP_20220818_AGN_10789_AT_Attachment_89888_1.PDF |title=Wairaki Catchment Strategy: Report prepared by Boffa Miskell for Auckland Council |date=29 July 2022 |author=Boffa Miskell |publisher=Auckland Council |access-date=23 September 2024}} Wairaki Stream is occasionally referred to by the name Duck Creek, and as the Waikaraki Stream.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/about-auckland-council/how-auckland-council-works/local-boards/all-local-boards/puketapapa-local-board/docsheritagestudies/waikowhai-coast-heritage-study.pdf |title=Waikōwhai Coast Heritage Study |first1=Elizabeth |last1=Pishief |first2=Brendan |last2=Shirley|date=August 2015|publisher=Auckland Council|access-date=14 February 2023}}

In 2022, the Wairaki Stream Reserve was given two bilingual Māori language names: the lower section near Lynfield Cove was named Wairaki ki tai, while the upper section was named Wairaki ki uta.{{cite web|url=https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2022/09/traditional-maori-names-return-to-puketapapa-parks/ |title=Traditional Māori names return to Puketāpapa parks |work=OurAuckland|publisher=Auckland Council |date=23 September 2022 |access-date=23 September 2024}}

Wairaki Stream in {{cvt|2|km}} in length,{{cite web|url=https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2018/11/locals-lead-the-charge-to-protect-wairaki-stream/ |title=Locals lead the charge to protect Wairaki Stream |work=OurAuckland|publisher=Auckland Council |date=13 November 2018 |access-date=21 February 2023}} and is fed by storm-water culverts from neighbouring residential properties. The stream begins at Wairaki / Lynfield Reserve, southwest of Lynfield Shopping Centre. It flows northwards then westwards through the Wairaki Stream Reserve.{{LINZ|id=46778|name=Wairaki Stream|access-date=23 September 2024}} The final {{cvt|100|m}} of the stream flows through a culvert, entering the Manukau Harbour at Lynfield Cove.

The Wairaki Stream is primarily formed from Waitemata Group sandstone. The southern Auckland isthmus is thought to have been podocarp-broadleaf forest before the arrival of people, and by 1910 the area was covered in "mixed bush" and mānuka bush. Alongside Anns Creek, the Wairaki Stream is only one of two named streams that flows into the Manukau Harbour from the Auckland isthmus.

The majority of the stream is forested with New Zealand native bush, and the area is home to numerous native bird species. The neighbouring reserve is home to a mix of exotic species, including river sheoak, Mexican cypress and camphor laurel, with native species including silver fern, māhoe, māpou, pigeonwood, hangehange and kawakawa. Large native trees are uncommon along the stream banks, however some areas feature kānuka and regenerating kahikatea trees. The mouth of the stream is home to species of wetland plants, primarily exotic species as well as native New Zealand species including Juncus prismatocarpus and Typha orientalis.{{Cite journal| volume = 73| pages = 57–66| last1 = Wilcox| first1 = Mike| last2 = Warden| first2 = Jack| title = Botany of the Lynfield Coast, Manukau Harbour, Auckland| journal = Auckland Botanical Society Journal| date = 1 June 2018 |url=https://bts.nzpcn.org.nz/site/assets/files/24157/ak_bot_soc_journal_73_1_jun_2018_57-66.pdf |access-date=23 September 2024}}

Microscydmus lynfieldi, one of the smallest beetle species in the world, was discovered at the Wairaki Stream in 1975.{{cite Q|Q120031137}}{{cite Q|Q130344952}} The beetle species Notoptenidium oblongum was also first discovered here.{{cite Q|Q54555390}}

The stream is home to New Zealand longfin eels and banded kōkopu.

The Wairaki Stream was visited by missionary William Colenso on 4 February 1842, during which he noticed the abundance of Alseuosmia macrophylla along the stream. For much of its history, the stream mouth was a muddy and rocky area.

The Wairaki Stream catchment was sold to the Crown as a part of an 1841 land purchase from Ngāti Whātua, while the southern was sold as a part of a private land sale in 1845. The northern catchment became property of John Logan Campbell from 1852 to 1910. In 1908, most of area immediately adjacent to the Wairaki Stream was set aside as a reserve, with the wider area to the north used as farmland in the early 20th century.{{cite web|url=https://timespanner.blogspot.com/2013/03/lynfield-or-linfield.html |title=Lynfield, or Linfield? |date=9 March 2013 |first=Lisa |last=Truttman |website=Timespanner |access-date=21 February 2023}}

The suburb of Lynfield was developed in the 1950s,{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19610525.2.173 |title=Land for New Township |page=15 |newspaper=Press |via=Papers Past |volume=C |issue=29522 |date=25 May 1961 |access-date=21 February 2023}}{{cite Q|Q116775081|pp=122-124}} during which many of the reserves surrounding the stream were enlarged. During the 1960s, the Auckland City Council constructed a stone wall at the mouth of the creek and backfilled the tidal section of Wairaki Stream, creating a grassy recreation area.{{cite web|url=http://www.blockhousebayhistoricalsociety.com/area/manukaucoastline.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525193933/http://www.blockhousebayhistoricalsociety.com/area/manukaucoastline.php |archive-date=25 May 2010 |publisher=Blockhouse Bay Historical Society |title=Notes on some features of the Manukau coastline, from Green Bay to Onehunga |first=A. W. |last=Glen |date=November 2006}}

A local volunteer group, the Friends of Wairaki Stream (FOWS), was established in 2018 in order to undertake conservation work on the stream.{{cite web|url=https://www.bhb.nz/august-2020/wairaki-stream-conservation-progresses |title=Wairaki Stream conservation progresses |date=1 August 2020 |website=Beacon Community News |access-date=21 February 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://wairakistream.wordpress.com/about/ |title=About |website=Friends of Wairaki Stream |date=12 August 2020 |access-date=21 February 2023}}

During the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods, significant amounts of debris filled up the Wairaki Stream valley.{{cite web|url=https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2024/07/chopper-action-makes-space-for-water/ |title=Chopper action makes space for water |work=OurAuckland|publisher=Auckland Council |date=15 July 2024 |access-date=23 September 2024}} In August 2024, {{cvt|50|tonnes}} of debris were lifted out by helicopter from the stream.{{cite web|url=https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2024/08/wairaki-stream-sheds-50-tonnes/ |title=Wairaki Stream sheds 50 tonnes |work=OurAuckland|publisher=Auckland Council |date=16 August 2024 |access-date=23 September 2024}}

Since 2013, feasibility studies have investigated options for removing the culvert and daylighting the mouth of the Wairaki Stream.

Wairaki Stream 20240921 182430.jpg|Wairaki Stream at Wairaki / Lynfield Reserve

Wairaki Stream 20240921 180400.jpg|The Wairaki Stream valley

Wairaki Stream 20240921 180122.jpg|Wairaki Stream at Wairaki Stream Reserve near Lynfield Cove

Wairaki Stream mouth at Lynfield Cove 20240921 175417.jpg|Wairaki Stream mouth and culvert

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Category:Puketāpapa Local Board Area