Human Use
Close to the Takapuna city centre, the lake is popular not only with wild birds (such as shags) but with picnickers, paddlers, kayakers, rowers, yachtsman, divers, and windsurfers (lessons have been given on the lake). Free divers (no tanks) have practiced in the lake. College rowing crews use it. There have been boating races. The Pupuke Boating Club operates there. Takapuna Boating Club hosts regattas. Lake Pupuke is suitable for swimming but murky and contains thick vegetation, and there have been incidents of drownings. The lake has been tested for bacteria and generally meets safe swimming conditions.
In 2007, recreational fishing has become more prominent since rainbow trout were released into the lake from a fish hatchery. However, since there are no actual streams entering or leaving the lake, trout will not be able to reproduce naturally, and new trout will have to be released periodically. Other fish in the lake include tench, perch, rudd, and carp.
The crater wall has been quarried in several places, most intensely on the western side between Shea Terrace and Rangitira Avenue, where Smales Quarry continues to operate. A long thin lagoon called Quarry Lake has been formed there by flooding a former quarry area.
The Takapuna PumpHouse Theatre is alongside the lake. Above the Pumphouse is Takapuna's municipal swimming pool, which has sometimes been described as "intrusive" and "ugly".
Lakeside real estate is expensive. Empty lakefront land is rare; one undeveloped parcel cost $2.7 million in 2008. Lake Pupuke is identified as a "high risk" area in the event of a tsunami, and a high-tech phone alert system was developed for North Shore residents in case of an emergency.
Read more about this topic: Lake Pupuke
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