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Waipaoa River
Location
Country	New Zealand
Physical characteristics
Source	Kererūhuahua Raukumara Range
• elevation	965 m (3,166 ft)
Mouth	38°42′48″S 177°56′31″E / 38.71331°S 177.94186°E / -38.71331; 177.94186
Basin size	2,165 km (836 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Poverty Bay

The Waipaoa River is a river of the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of the Raukumara Range, flowing south for 80 kilometres (50 mi) to reach Poverty Bay and the Pacific Ocean just south of Gisborne. For about half of this distance its valley is followed by State Highway 2. The river has several important tributaries, among them the Wharekōpae, Waikohu, Mangatu, Te Ārai, Waingaromia and Waihora rivers. Major settlements along the banks of the river include Te Karaka, Ormond, and Pātūtahi.

The river has formed the fertile and highly productive Poverty Bay flats on the edge of Gisborne. The Waipaoa River Flood Control Scheme was built in the 1950s. Stopbanks are to be raised by 2031, as soil erosion, especially from the Waingaromia and Mangatu catchments, has built up the river bed, the annual flow of sediment being 15 million tonnes. Despite this pollution, many of the headwaters have indigenous fish. In the lower river, water quality is poor for E. coli, clarity, turbidity, ammoniacal nitrogen and total phosphorus. The sediment, building up at the rate of several centimetres a year, even many kilometres into Poverty Bay, shows that removal of trees such as rimu, matai and kaihikatea and then converting fern covered areas to farmland by the early 20th century, increased sediment flows by 2 to 3 times the former rate.

References

1. "Waipaoa River". Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. 1966.
2. ^ "Environmental monitoring data for Waipaoa River". Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA). Retrieved 25 March 2023.
3. "WAIPAOA RIVER CONTROL Press". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 December 1952. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
4. "Waipaoa Flood Control". Gisborne District Council. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
5. "Waipaoa River at Matawhero Bridge River Quality". Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA). Retrieved 26 March 2023.
6. Zeal; Dunbar, Dr Alan Orpin; Dr Alan Palmer; Dr Gavin; Carter, Dr Lionel; Alex, Matthew Wood; Dr Gary Wilson In the USA: Dr Clark; Walsh, Claudia Venherm; Dr J. P.; Marsaglia, Ben Sumner; Dr Steven Kuehl; Tommy Gerber; Dr Kathleen (1 December 2007). "Tracking the Waipaoa out to sea". NIWA. Retrieved 26 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

• v
• t
• e

• Rivers of the Gisborne District
• Rivers of New Zealand
• Gisborne Region river stubs