Waimate Creek is a natural watercourse in the southern

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

region of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...

. Its original

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

name was Te Waimatemate, which means "slowly moving waters".

Catchment

Waimate Creek runs roughly eastwards, rising in the

Hunter Hills Hunter Hills is a neighborhood located west of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Its motto, "One Community, One Family", has been its cornerstone since 2001. The neighborhood is encompassed in the 30314 zip code. Hunter Hills shares borde ...

before reaching the narrow coastal plain of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, skirting the west and southern side of

Waimate Waimate is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand and the seat of Waimate District. It is situated just inland from the eastern coast of the South Island. The town is reached via a short detour west when travelling on State Highway One, the main No ...

township and then discharging metres from the sea into the Wainono Dead Arm, which links the Waihao River and Wainono Lagoon. Its catchment area is approximately .

Ecology

Waimate Creek is considered by

Environment Canterbury Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's s ...

to be in good ecological condition. This is due to intact native forest at its headwaters and a

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ...

that has remained relatively intact. This zone contains vegetation such as

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

s and

broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. ...

. Fish species found within the stream include the Canterbury galaxias,

New Zealand longfin eel The New Zealand longfin eel (''Anguilla dieffenbachii'') is a species of freshwater eel that is endemic to New Zealand. It is the largest freshwater eel in New Zealand and the only endemic species – the other eels found in New Zealand are the ...

, and upland bully.Environment Canterbury
"2.11 Waimate Creek at John Kirk's Intake"
31, accessed 25 October 2007.

Crossings

State Highway 82 crosses Waimate Creek on the southwestern side of Waimate. In

Studholme Studholme is a locality in southern Canterbury in New Zealand's South Island. It is named after Michael Studholme, a pioneer European settler who arrived in the area in 1854. Geography Studholme is situated on the coastal plains of the Wa ...

, near its discharge into the Wainono Dead Arm, it is crossed by

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

and the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inv ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

. It was formerly crossed by the Waimate Gorge Branch railway on the southwestern side of Waimate but this

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

closed in 1953 and the bridge has been removed.

References

{{coord, 44, 44, S, 171, 10, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Canterbury, New Zealand Waimate District Rivers of New Zealand