Wainuiomata River
Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The Wainuiomata River runs southwest through the Wainuiomata Valley located in the southern Remutaka Range in the North Island, New Zealand.
Origin of name
The word Wainui-o-Mata is a Māori name made up of the elements wai (water), nui (big), o (of) and Mata – which could refer to a woman's name. The origins of the name remain disputed, but one commonly acceptedScript error: No such module "Unsubst". explanation refers to women who came over the Wainuiomata Hill to evade marauding tribes from the north, and who sat wailing by the stream after the slaughter of their menfolk. From this we have "faces streaming with water" or "tears"Script error: No such module "Unsubst". - although the name could equally refer to the large pools of water which lay over the swampy surface (face) of the northern end of the Valley, or to the river itself, which can flood the Wainui (Coast Road) valley.
Today[update]Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". it is commonly called the "Wainui River", as the suburb of Wainuiomata is informally named "Wainui".
History
The earliest settlements were based around the riverScript error: No such module "Unsubst". where the timber mills supplied the Wellington region where the demand was great in the 1850s and 1860s. Today this area is known as "The Village" or as "Homedale".
In 1879 the Wellington ratepayers voted to extend their water supply, and by 1884 a dam was builtScript error: No such module "Unsubst". in Sinclair Valley (Waterworks Valley) and a pipeline ran across the Wainuiomata Valley floor, through a tunnel under the hillScript error: No such module "Unsubst"., and on to Wellington. This dam was replaced in 1910 with the Morton Dam since decommissioned, while the Ōrongorongo tunnel and pipelines were implemented by 1926. The establishment of the waterworks meant the coming of the telephone although, by 1921, there were still only two subscribers.
since 2016[update]Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". the Wainuiomata/Ōrongorongo Catchment Area is a restricted area as it supplies much of the Wellington region with water.
External links
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