Awanui River

---

title: "Awanui River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["far-north-district", "rivers-of-the-northland-region", "rivers-of-new-zealand", "scenic-reserves-of-the-northland-region"] description: "River in Northland, New Zealand" topic_path: "geography/new-zealand" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awanui_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in Northland, New Zealand ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Awanui River
native_name	mi
image	Awanui River.jpg
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	Northland
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Far North
length_km	30
source1	Confluence of Victoria River and Karemuhako Stream
source1_coordinates
mouth	Rangaunu Harbour
mouth_coordinates
river_system	Awanui River
::

| name = Awanui River | native_name =mi | name_other = | name_etymology = | nickname = | image = Awanui River.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = | image_alt = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= | pushpin_map_alt = | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Northland | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Far North | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = |length_km=30 | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Confluence of Victoria River and Karemuhako Stream | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = | mouth = Rangaunu Harbour | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = Awanui River | basin_size = | basin_landmarks = | basin_population = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | waterbodies = | waterfalls = | bridges = | ports = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra =

The Awanui River is a river in the far north of New Zealand, close to the point at which the Aupouri Peninsula joins the rest of the Northland Peninsula. The Awanui flows first west and then north, for a total of 30 km, before flowing into Rangaunu Harbour. The town of Kaitaia is along its banks.

The four major upstream rivers which discharge into the Awanui River are the Takahue River, Victoria River, Karemuhako Stream, and Tarawhaturoa Stream.

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "large river" for Awanui.

History

The Awanui River was extensively dredged for navigation until 1960, with a busy river port at Awanui exporting butter via coastal scows to Auckland, for trans-shipping to the UK. Upstream of Awanui it was dredged, and in places straightened, for flood control. Regular cargo scows included the Coronation, Tiri and Kapuni. Because of their shallow draught these scows were often assisted around the river bends by the work launch Ann, piloted by Harbourmaster Thomas George (Tom) Walker and later by his son Thomas Frederick (Larry) Walker. This family also operated the marine radio station ZLNF Awanui Radio, located at Unahi near the mouth of the river.

Thomas Frederick Walker died in 1987 and the Harbour Master's position was taken on by his son, Thomas Christopher Walker who still holds this position as of 2016. The position has been held by the Walker family for over 100 years.

Flood hazard

Flooding poses a threat in the lower Awanui Catchment due to the low lying topography. The risk of flooding is particularly notable in the towns of Kaitaia and Awanui. Northland Regional Council monitors the Awanui River levels, as well as planning and implementing flood protection works.

Water quality and ecology

The water quality of the river is monitored by Northland Regional Council, and the environmental information can be viewed on the LAWA website.

Municipal water supply

The town of Kaitaia extracts water from the Awanui River.

References

References

1. {{LINZ
2. "Awanui River Catchment Flood Risk Assessment".
3. (6 August 2019). "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
4. "[https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12174391 Work begins on $15.5m project to protect Kaitaia from floods]", ''[[New Zealand Herald]]'', 12 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
5. "Awanui River".
6. "New water sources in the pipeline for Kaitaia".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::