Lower Dam - Kiwi Poet

Lower Dam – Wainui-o-mata

Author: Stephen Douglas

Dam it! - was the town cry circa 1880

When Wellington needed watering

To help 26,000 city folk survive

Wainui-o-mata is nigh – pipe it matey

Down the valley, under-hilling

We’ve got water to survive

Excited with supply – electricity!

Water engines; hydraulic lifts gesturing

Morton’s Dam (1911) to survive

Dam it! – Lower; Morton; until 1980

O-rong-o-rongo weir (1926) inspiring

Feat to replenish and survive

60 million litres per day; high-quality

Water supply; - 15% watering

Needs met, Wellington survives

2007 wetland is created – kiwi

Are here now; along with watering

Fowl - regenerated bush thrives!

Lying at the foot of one of the largest and most pristine forests in the lower North Island, the Wainuiomata Recreation Area is a peaceful and sheltered valley.