Whau River
{{Short description|River in Auckland, New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Whau River
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| image = Whau River 20231112 182017 02.jpg
| image_size = 270px
| image_caption = The Whau River and Rata Street Bridge
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| map = {{Infobox mapframe|type=line|plain=yes|zoom=11|frame-align=center|frame-width=270|frame-height=270|stroke-color=#0000ff|stroke-width=2}}
| map_size = 270px
| map_caption = Route of the Whau River
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| pushpin_map = Auckland#New Zealand
| pushpin_map_size = 270px
| pushpin_map_caption= Mouth of the Whau River
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| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = New Zealand
| subdivision_type2 = Region
| subdivision_name2 = Auckland Region
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| source1 =
| source1_location = Maungakiekie Golf Club, Mount Roskill
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|-36.9225|174.72822|type:river_region:NZ|display=inline}}
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| mouth = Waitematā Harbour
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| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|-36.85959|174.6582|type:river_region:NZ|display=inline,title}}
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| progression = Whau River → Waitematā Harbour → Hauraki Gulf → Pacific Ocean
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| tributaries_left = Avondale Stream, Rewarewa Creek, Taroa Stream, Wairau Creek, Glendene Stream
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The Whau River ({{IPA|mi|ɸau}}) is an estuarial arm of the southwestern Waitemata Harbour (rather than a river) within the Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It flows north for {{convert|5.7|km|mi}} from its origin at the confluence of the Avondale Stream and Whau Stream to its mouth between the Te Atatū Peninsula and the long, thin Rosebank Peninsula in Avondale. It is {{convert|800|m|ft}} at its widest and {{convert|400|m|ft}} wide at its mouth.
The estuary extends past the suburbs of Glendene and Kelston. It has one small estuarial tributary arm, the Wairau Creek in the southwest. The tide flows up the Wairau Creek as far as Sabulite Road in Kelston, and up the Rewarewa Creek to Clark Street and Wolverton Road in New Lynn.{{cite book |title=The Whau: Our Streams, Our River, Our Backyards |last=Mackay |first=Jo |year=2001 |publisher=Waitakere City Council |url= http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcit/ei/pdfs/environment/thewhau.pdf |access-date=21 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040831011218/http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcit/ei/pdfs/environment/thewhau.pdf |archive-date=31 August 2004 |url-status=dead}} The area at the mouth of the estuary is legally protected as the Motu Manawa (Pollen Island) Marine Reserve.
The Whau River is named after a native tree, the whau (Entelea arborescens).
Geography
File:Waitematā Harbour Eastwards View (cropped - 3).jpg
The geology of the area is mainly composed of marine and riverine sediment. The stream's intertidal banks are commonly settled by mangroves and exotic weed species.{{cite book|title=Waterview Connection - Assessment of Environmental Effects: Part C|date=August 2010|publisher=New Zealand Transport Agency|pages=8.9-8.10}}
The river's catchment covers {{convert|29|km2|mi2}} and includes all or part of Te Atatū South, Glendene, Kelston, Titirangi, Titirangi North, Green Bay, New Lynn, Glen Eden, Avondale, Blockhouse Bay and Mount Albert. Watersheds closely follow Te Atatu Road, Titirangi Road, Hillsborough Road, Richardson Road and Rosebank Road. The catchment consists of clay, sandstone and mud and was formed 20 million years ago when the land was raised from the sea.
History
In earlier times, Māori used Te Tōanga Waka, the Whau River portage, for travel between the Waitemata Harbour (on the Pacific east coast) and the Manukau Harbour (on the Tasman west coast). They paddled canoes up the Whau River and the Avondale Stream and then carried the canoes over a short stretch of land to Green Bay on the Manukau. This is remembered in the name for Portage Road, which runs alongside the Avondale Stream, and it is known that seasonal Māori settlements existed at the mouth of the river. For many years after European settlement, there was talk of making a canal between the Whau and the Manukau. Plans for a {{Convert|6900|ft|km|abbr=on}} long canal, with a cutting up to {{Convert|131|ft|m|abbr=on}} deep, were made in 1907, but dismissed as too costly in 1921.{{Cite web|url=http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1921-I-II.2.3.2.17&srpos=1|title=AtoJs Online — Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives — 1921 Session I-II — H-15a AUCKLAND CANALS AND INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION. (REPORT OF THE).|website=atojs.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2016-06-21}}
From 1841, the banks of the Whau River were logged for Kauri timber.{{Cite journal| last1 = Hayward | first1 = B. W.| author-link1=Bruce Hayward |last2 = Diamond | first2 = J. T.| author-link2=J. T. Diamond | title = Kauri Dam Sites in the Waitakere Ranges | journal = Tane |volume = 6 |pages=105–120 | access-date = 2022-05-03| date = 1975| url = http://www.thebookshelf.auckland.ac.nz/docs/Tane/Tane-21/18%20Kauri%20Dam%20Sites%20in%20the%20Waitakere%20Ranges.pdf}} In 1852, the first brickworks in West Auckland were opened on the Rosebank Peninsula by Dr Daniel Pollen on the Whau River.{{Cite book| editor-first=James| editor-last=Northcote-Bade |title=West Auckland Remembers, Volume 2 |year=1992 |publisher=West Auckland Historical Society |isbn=0-473-01587-0 |chapter=The Brick and Pottery Industry in the Western Districts |first1=John T. |last1=Diamond |author-link1=J. T. Diamond |pages=45, 47}} By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Whau River became the centre of West Auckland's clayworks; of the 39 brick and clayworks of West Auckland, 23 were located on the Whau River. European settlers used the Whau for marine transport and by 1865 there were five public wharves at New Lynn. Boats carried the products of local industries including brickworks, a leather tannery, a gelatine and glue factory and firewood cutting. The last commercial vessel to use the Whau was a flat-bottomed scow the Rahiri, which carried bricks and manuka firewood from the area until 1948. For nearly a hundred years, factories such as the tannery and an abattoir discharged wastes directly into the Whau.
Friends of the Whau Inc. was formed in 1999 to restore the ecology of the Whau through revegetation and reduction of pollution. The Whau River Catchment Trust was formed in 2012.{{cite web |url= http://www.whauriver.org.nz/the-whau-river-catchment-trust |title=The Whau River Catchment Trust |publisher=The Whau River Catchment Trust |access-date=3 June 2013}}
The West End Rowing Club has been based in the Whau since 2001.
The Whau River formerly marked the boundary between two territorial authorities in the Auckland region: Waitakere City, centred around West Auckland suburbs, and Auckland City, composed of the central suburbs of the Auckland isthmus. After the amalgamation of the Auckland councils in 2010, the suburbs adjacent to the river were administered by the Whau ward.
In 2015, construction began on the Te Whau Pathway, a walking and cycling path along the western edge of the Whau River from Te Atatū Peninsula to Olympic Park in New Lynn. The path is planned to continue on to Green Bay beach thus connecting the Waitemata Harbour to the Manukau Harbour.{{cite web |url= http://tewhaupathway.meekadigital.com/ |title=Te Whau Pathway |publisher=Te Whau Pathway |access-date=13 January 2017}}{{cite web |url= http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/CouncilProjects/Pages/tewhaupathway.aspx |title=Te Whau Pathway |publisher=Auckland Council |access-date=13 January 2017}}
References
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External links
- [https://www.whauriver.org.nz/ Whau River Catchment Trust and Friends of the Whau]
- [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=SEE_ALSO&QF0=Subjects&QI0==%22Whau+River%22&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2Fheritageimages%2Findex.htm&TN=heritageimages&SN=AUTO9605&SE=246&RN=0&MR=20&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=HIOReport&EF=&DF=HIORecord&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=2&ID=&MF=WPEngMsg.ini&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=12150&NR=1&NB=0&SV=0&SS=1&BG=&FG=&QS=index&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1 Photographs of Whau River] held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.
{{Whau Local Board Area}}
Category:Geography of Auckland
Category:Whau Local Board Area
Category:Waitematā Harbour catchment