[1] The park is the site of a natural freshwater aquifer, where water comes through the surface through cracks in basalt lava flow from Te Tātua a Riukiuta.

[3][4] Historically, Western Springs was one of two major wetlands in the central Auckland area and was a significant site for Tāmaki Māori who valued it for its clean, clear water and for the harvesting of ōrea or New Zealand long fin eels.

[2][1] A traditional Māori story involves Ruarangi, a chief of the supernatural Patupaiarehe people, escaping a siege on Ōwairaka / Mount Albert through lava tunnels and emerging at Te Wai Ōrea.

[1] In 1877, an earth dam was constructed to create a larger artificial lake, in order to serve as the source of Auckland's drinking water.

A number of threatened and rare New Zealand species are found in the park, including the haplolepideous moss Fissidens berteroi, short-hair plume grass (Dichelachne inaequiglumis), and the parasitic vine Cassytha paniculata (mawhai).