The Brook Valley immediately south of Nelson is a water-supply reserve owned for over 100 years by the Nelson City Council.
The Nelson Waterworks Reserve was created in 1865, encompassing the watershed of the Brook Stream.
A dam was built and an oval reservoir were constructed that held a two-week water supply for the city; they opened on 16 April 1868.
A second dam was built in 1905, and a third in 1909, to create enough water pressure to supply houses in the hills around Nelson.
The dams were plagued with leaks, and the city's water needs continued to grow.
A dam and pipeline were built on the Roding River in 1941, and the Maitai River was dammed in 1987.
Together these rendered the Brook waterworks obsolete, and it was decommissioned in 2000.

The valley also contained the Dun Mountain railway line, New Zealand's first railway, which was a horse-drawn tramway built in the 1860s to service a chromite mine.
In the 1890s two coal mines operated nearby.

Planning for turning the Brook Valley into a predator-free wildlife sanctuary began with the formation of a steering committee in mid-2001, and in 2004 the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust was formed as a community group.
The valley was only 5 km from Nelson, backed onto 1660 km² Mount Richmond Forest Park, and included the 690 ha Waterworks Reserve.
Although its lower reaches had been initially cleared for grazing livestock and were regenerating, the beech forest in the upper reaches had been preserved as a water-supply reserve and was intact.

In 2007–2008 the Nelson City Council approved $1.036 million and the Tasman District Council $300,000 of funding to begin the project.
The Brook Valley immediately south of Nelson is a water-supply reserve owned for over 100 years by the Nelson City Council. The Nelson Waterworks Reserve was created in 1865, encompassing the watershed of the Brook Stream. A dam was built and an oval reservoir were constructed that held a two-week water supply for the city; they opened on 16 April 1868. A second dam was built in 1905, and a third in 1909, to create enough water pressure to supply houses in the hills around Nelson. The dams were plagued with leaks, and the city's water needs continued to grow. A dam and pipeline were built on the Roding River in 1941, and the Maitai River was dammed in 1987. Together these rendered the Brook waterworks obsolete, and it was decommissioned in 2000.
The valley also contained the Dun Mountain railway line, New Zealand's first railway, which was a horse-drawn tramway built in the 1860s to service a chromite mine. In the 1890s two coal mines operated nearby.
Planning for turning the Brook Valley into a predator-free wildlife sanctuary began with the formation of a steering committee in mid-2001, and in 2004 the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust was formed as a community group. The valley was only 5 km from Nelson, backed onto 1660 km² Mount Richmond Forest Park, and included the 690 ha Waterworks Reserve. Although its lower reaches had been initially cleared for grazing livestock and were regenerating, the beech forest in the upper reaches had been preserved as a water-supply reserve and was intact.
In 2007–2008 the Nelson City Council approved $1.036 million and the Tasman District Council $300,000 of funding to begin the project.
Brook Waimārama Sanctuary