Tauweru River

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The Tauweru River, sometimes called the Taueru River, is a river in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. It drains from the pastural eastern highlands of the Wairarapa and joins the Ruamahanga River^[1] just north of the Gladstone Road bridge into Gladstone, southeast of Carterton.^[2] The river's name is Māori for "hanging in clusters" and named after it is the town of Tauweru, located along the middle reaches of the river east of Masterton.^[3]

The river itself is slow and sluggish, flowing in a willow-lined, restricted and gravel-less channel.^[4] A group of local farmers, the Mid-Tauweru Landcare Group, was established in 2000 to facilitate sound management of the river's riparian zone by replacing willows with native plants to enhance the river's flow and biodiversity.^[5] Its catchment east of Masterton is extensive and fishing conditions in the lower three kilometres of the river are considered to be excellent, especially in summer.^[6]

[edit] References

1. ^ 1966 Encyclopaedia Of New Zealand: Ruamahanga River
2. ^ Map depicting the Gladstone Road bridge just south of the confluence of the Ruamahanga and Tauweru Rivers
3. ^ Sharpe, Marty, 6 July 2002, "Tauweru Spelling Stays a Hot Issue", Wairarapa Times-Age.
4. ^ Heather, B. D., September 1973, "The Black-Fronted Dotterel (Charadrius Melanops) in the Wairarapa", Notornis: Journal of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand 20(3), pg. 252.
5. ^ Transpower Grants - Mid-Tauweru Landcare Group
6. ^ Fish and Game New Zealand: Wellington - Fishing - Access