Ladbrooks Primary School

Lake Waihora

Our Project

General Information

Lake Waihora is a very big lake - 4th largest in New Zealand.

It was formed between 6,000 and 14,000 years ago after the last ice age as a bay and closed in by drifting sediment and erosion.

It once was an extremely big lake but now it is drained to the sea to save land, turning it into a brackish bar type lagoon. The draining also made it very shallow - average depth 2.1 metres. It covers around 20,000 hectares since it has been drained (Ithe sources didn't know how big it was before it was drained).

It has been named an outstanding habitat for bird life and other wildlife. The lakebed and plants attached to it are owned by Nga Tahu.

It is important to many people for many reasons, but now I'm stealing other peoples' thunder so I'll zip it.