Freshwater quality

Research aim: Developing a suite of control tools

Research aim: Developing predictive models

Research aim: Understanding clam impacts

Updated 2025 – guidance for water quality monitoring in rivers, lakes and estuaries

NIWA's Urban Runoff Quality Information System (URQIS) provides planners, engineers and researchers with information about the quality of stormwater from different locations and landuses and under different flow conditions.

Can native freshwater algae help restore the mauri of local waterways? Lawrence Gullery investigates.

For the first time, satellites have been used to track coastal water health around Aotearoa New Zealand.

NIWA has updated and restarted a course using a riparian planning tool developed by one of its former chief scientists more than 20 years ago.

Protection of the Awa Models enable us to predict how different uses of the land and water will impact river and stream health.

Bottom lining is the installation of a flexible covering over the top of beds of aquatic weeds, similar to using weed matting in home gardens. This control method is also called ‘benthic barriers’.

Report: Trends analysis for selected indicators of Waikato River health and wellbeing 2010-2019

A combination of artificial intelligence and scientific ingenuity looks set to be the next step forward in protecting Aotearoa New Zealand’s lakes and rivers from invasive aquatic weeds.