Karapiro

Karapiro or Karāpiro is a settlement and rural area in the Waipa District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It includes both the artificially created Lake Karapiro and the accompanying Karapiro Power Station. Karapiro is located just off State Highway 1, south-west of Cambridge.

This article is about the settlement and rural community. For other uses, see Karapiro (disambiguation).

The Māori-language word karā means "stone (dark basalt)"; piro means "evil-smelling". According to legend, Karapiro was the stronghold of the chief O-Te-Ihingarangi, and was where the Ngati Haua and their Tauranga allies made a defensive pact during the New Zealand Wars of 1864.[1]

Lake Karapiro
Main article: Lake Karapiro

Lake Karapiro is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River, formed in 1947 by damming the Waikato River to store water for the 96-megawatt Karapiro hydroelectric power station.[2]

The lake is regarded as one of New Zealand's best rowing venues. It hosted the World Rowing Championships in 1978 and 2010, as well as the rowing events for the 1950 British Empire Games. Lake Karapiro alternates with the South Island's Lake Ruataniwha in hosting the New Zealand national rowing championships and the New Zealand secondary school rowing championships (Maadi Cup).In March 2006, an International Rowing Federation inspection panel described Karapiro as one of the fairest and most picturesque courses in the world.[3]

Karapiro Power Station
Main article: Karapiro Power Station

The 96-megawatt Karapiro Power Station is located adjacent to the dam at the head of the lake, and is the eighth and last hydroelectric power station located on the Waikato River. Water for the power station up to 362 cubic metres per second (12,800 cu ft/s) at full power, is taken from the lake and passed through three Kaplan turbines in the powerhouse, before being deposited into the lower Waikato River. Each turbine turns a 32 MW generator, and the electricity from the generators is fed into Transpower's national transmission grid. The station is a base load generator due to its need to maintain water flows into the Waikato River system beyond the lake.

The ten-megawatt Horahora Power Station at Horahora, 13 km upstream of Karapiro Dam, part of an earlier hydroelectric power scheme, was flooded with the formation of Lake Karapiro.[4]

History

A man opened fire inside the Karapiro Cafe and Grits in April 2019.[5]

The suspect was later put under mental health care;[6] the victim survived with serious injuries.[7]

Education

Karapiro School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students,[8][9] with a roll of 25 as of March 2020.[10]

References
  1. "Karapiro – History". Mighty River Power. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011.
  2. Lowe, D.J., Green, J.D. (1987). Viner, A.B. (ed.). Inland waters of New Zealand. Wellington: DSIR Science Information Publishing Centre. pp. 471–474. ISBN 0-477-06799-9.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "NZ to host 2010 world rowing champs". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 8 June 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  4. Martin, John E. (1991). People, politics and power stations : electric power generation in New Zealand, 1880–1990. ISBN 0-908912-16-1.
  5. Fitzgerald, Kate (25 April 2019). "Man shot while working at Karapiro cafe". Mediaworks New Zealand. Newshub.
  6. Wilson, Libby (8 May 2019). "Alleged Karapiro cafe shooter 'extremely unwell' and under mental health care". Stuff. Waikato Times.
  7. Nyika, Ruby (3 May 2019). "Cafe worker shot in head near Cambridge a 'medical miracle'". Stuff. Waikato Times.
  8. "Official School Website". karapiro.school.nz.
  9. "Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.
  10. "Education Review Office Report". ero.govt.nz. Education Review Office.

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