Lake Brunner

Lake Brunner

Walkway beside the lake
Location Grey District, West Coast region, South Island
Coordinates 42°37′S 171°27′E / 42.617°S 171.450°E / -42.617; 171.450Coordinates: 42°37′S 171°27′E / 42.617°S 171.450°E / -42.617; 171.450
Primary outflows Arnold River
Basin countries New Zealand
Surface area 40 km²
Max. depth 109 m
Settlements Moana

Lake Brunner is the largest lake in the northwestern South Island of New Zealand, covering an area of 40 km². The lake's outflow is the Arnold River, a tributary of the Grey River. The lake lies 31 kilometres to the southeast of Greymouth. The main settlement close to the lake is Moana, on the northern shore.[1]

Located several kilometres inland from the coast road (State Highway 6), it is less frequently visited by tourists than many of the West Coast's scenic highlights, but it is becoming increasingly popular, in part due to its reputation for fishing.

Lake Brunner was named by John Rochfort for the 19th century explorer Thomas Brunner. The Māori name for the lake, Kotuku moana, means "Sea of herons".[2]

Location of Lake Brunner in the South Island of New Zealand.
Lake Brunner
Lake Brunner

The New Zealand freshwater mussel (Hyridella menziesi) is found in the lake.[3]

By 1976 twenty percent of the catchment of the lake was farmed and there was a population of 84 at the settlement of Moana.[3]

Water quality

The waters of Lake Brunner have been monitored since the 1990s and it shows that the water quality of the lake is declining.[4] By 2010 all the measured determinates for water quality were trending up but it was still considered to have good water quality.[5] The poorest water quality is at Cashmere Bay, next to Moana.[6]

The West Coast Regional Council 2007 Proposed Water Management Plan is to have the water quality maintained or improved.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bradley, Barry (1999). The Penguin New Zealand Atlas. Penguin (NZ). ISBN 0-14-028914-3.
  2. ↑ Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling, ed. Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. p. 61. ISBN 9780143204107.
  3. 1 2 Cooke, Marylyn D. (1976). "Antibiotic Resistance Among Coliform and Fecal Coliform Bacteria Isolated from the Freshwater Mussel Hydridella menziesii" (PDF). Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. American Society for Microbiology. 9 (6): 885–888. doi:10.1128/aac.9.6.885. PMC 429644Freely accessible. PMID 779633.
  4. ↑ Hamill, Keith (2006). Snapshot of Lake Water Quality in New Zealand (PDF). ME number: 776. Ministry for the Environment. ISBN 0-478-30107-3.
  5. ↑ "Lake Brunner water quality update: May 2010" (PDF). West Coast Regional Council. May 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  6. 1 2 Horrox, J. (June 2008). "West Coast Surface Water Quality" (PDF). West Coast Regional Council. Retrieved 8 August 2010.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Brunner.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/4/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.