Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Lake Wairarapa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is missing citations and/or footnotes.
This article or section contains insufficiently sourced phrases. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. You may improve the article or discuss this issue on the talk page. Help on using footnotes is available. This article has been tagged since February 2007. |
| Lake Wairarapa | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Island |
| Coordinates | |
| Primary sources | Ruamahanga |
| Primary outflows | Ruamahanga |
| Basin countries | New Zealand |
| Surface area | 78 km² |
| Average depth | 2.5 m |
Lake Wairarapa is a lake at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres east of Wellington. The lake covers an area of 78 km², and is the third largest in the North Island, fractionally smaller than Lake Rotorua. The nearest town to the lake is Featherston, which is located five kilometres from its northern shore.
The lake takes water from several rivers, notably the Ruamahanga, which is also its outflow. The lake's catchment area is large, and includes the eastern slopes of the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges. The Ruamahanga drains into Palliser Bay and Cook Strait just ten kilometres south of the lake.
The area around the lake is low-lying and swampy, and recent efforts have been made to preserve its important wetland features. The lake has long been used by Māori as a source of readily available food, and many species of waterfowl and fish uncommon elsewhere in New Zealand can be found in or around the lake.