Welcome to Freshwater Update 56, with the latest info from our Freshwater and Estuaries centre
After 150 years of research, one might assume that we have a fairly complete picture of the invertebrate communities in New Zealand streams and rivers. However new research suggests that high altitude streams have distinctly different, poorly-known, biological communities.
Many New Zealand lakes are under threat due to changes in land-use and invasions of alien aquatic plants. NIWA's LakeSPI (Lake Submerged Plant Indicators) is a bio-assessment tool for monitoring and reporting on the ecological condition of lakes. The LakeSPI website has been updated with improved functionality.
River water temperatures (OND)
Spring river water temperatures were mostly in the range 8-20oC.
River flows - October to December 2012
The three month map (on the right) shows that most of the North Island rivers are below or far below normal, together with the northern South Island.
The South Island West Coast rivers were normal to below normal, and Southland and East Coast rivers were normal to above normal.
