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Early history of the Karori valley
Maori hunters
Little is known about the pre-European history of the Karori Reservoir Valley. Maori are not thought to have lived there and it is likely that the valley was used for hunting birds and the collection of food.
The arrival of Europeans saw the burning of the original forest and the valley was turned into farmland. There was also a short-lived gold rush before the area was set aside as the catchment for Wellington's water supply.
Farming
After major forest fires in the 1850s and 1860s, the valley was farmed on the eastern side by George Baker and William Mitchell, and the western side by Joseph Campbell. As part of the western slopes were too steep to farm, the forest was allowed to regenerate. It is now the best area of bush in the Sanctuary.
Farming continued in other sections of the valley until 1906, when all stock were removed because they were thought to be polluting the water supply. The valley was then zoned as water supply catchment and closed to the public.
Goldmining
Goldminers circa 1870
Alluvial gold was discovered in the Kaiwharawhara stream near the Karori tunnel in June 1869. Because of the proximity to the city, residents quickly flocked to the area. By the end of July, however, claims in the upper stream were abandoned and new claims were opened downstream where the Old Karori Road crossed the Kaiwarra stream.
Within two years alluvial mining had disappeared and was replaced by quartz mining. Water wheels and crushing machinery were installed by the Baker's Hill Mining Company and at the Morning Star lease, but many people believed that some neighbouring claims were formed not for prospecting purposes but for speculative reasons.
Poor returns from all leases soon spelled the end of gold mining at Karori.
Completion of the waterworks dam in 1873 resulted in the close of the Baker's Hill and Morning Star mines as their land and ground works were submerged when the Reservoir was filled.
Two claims in the upper valley, Union and Try Again, although not directly affected by the water level, could not operate within the restricted access area of the reservoir catchment. When the Golden Crown also faded shortly after, quartz mining in Karori came to an end. Some small-scale alluvial mining, intermittent prospecting, and working of quartz reefs persisted to 1897.
Water Reservoir
The lower reservoir dam when
filled; historic valve tower
and boat shed (1873)
The Wellington Waterworks Act of 1871 provided for 228 acres of farmland to be taken over for the purposes of building a reservoir for the city. Construction began in 1872 on an earth dam, the first of its kind in Wellington, and possibly in New Zealand.
Works were completed the following year with the building of the Gothic style water outlet control tower. This has an 'A' classification with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. The other historic building by the lower dam is the boat shed used by the then governor-general who had fishing rights on the lower dam.
By the late 1870s Wellington's population was increasing rapidly and the existing dam was proving insufficient to meet the city's water needs.
Construction of upper dam
Construction on a second dam began in 1906. Completed in 1908, it is one of only two or three gravity arch dams in the country, and an early example of the use of concrete in New Zealand. In 1991 the upper dam was decommissioned as it was considered an earthquake risk.
Upper dam completed
With the completion of a new enclosed water supply reservoir at Johnsonville the lower dam was withdrawn from the city's water supply system in 1998, it is still retained as an emergency water supply.
Water Reservoir photos supplied by Alexander Turnbull Library.
