Freshwater quality

NIWA discusses, in depth, this year's most asked question—what is happening to our fresh waterways?

Banded kōkopu juveniles are very good climbers and will try to escape from buckets by clinging to and wriggling up the sides.

When soils erode, sediments are washed into waterways.

Returning water to our waterways after we’ve used it in our homes, on farms and in industry is a complex and challenging process.

The largest member of the Galaxiidae family.

Temperature affects the number and type of animals and plants that live in a waterway.

There are two methods to determine visual clarity in SHMAK; the clarity tube (or SHMAK tube) and the black disc method.

Inanga are the predominant species in the modern whitebait fishery.

How do hydro-electricity activities potentially influence waterway temperatures?

To prepare for changes in climate, our freshwater and oceans decision-makers need information on species vulnerability to climate change.

The kākahi or freshwater mussel was a valuable mahinga kai resource for many Māori.

Water clarity or turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness in a fluid caused by individual small particles (suspended solids).