Freshwater

We provide public information on river, lake, and groundwater conditions across New Zealand including freshwater quantity and quality.

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    Why are kōura rare or absent in your waterway?

    Habitat and biological factors factors affect why kōura rare or absent in your waterway.
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    Are kōura present in your waterway?

    First, determine if kōura should be present in your stream.
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    Identifying the problem for kōura

    Identifying the factors causing kōura numbers to decline will allow you to determine which restoration tools you need to employ.
  • Guide to restoring kōura (freshwater crayfish) in lakes, rivers and streams

    Habitat degradation and the introduction of exotic plant and fish species have adversely affected kōura populations throughout New Zealand. However, there are a number of measures that we can use to restore kōura populations in lakes, rivers and streams.
  • Citizen science monitoring of water a win-win, research shows

    Media release
    New research has revealed that citizen science monitoring of water is a win-win for scientists and volunteers—one gains access to new data, and the other the skills and confidence to become involved in discussions over what is happening to their streams.
  • Running off the road

    Feature story
    At a rough count, 700 million litres of rain runs off the nation’s roads every year. That’s enough water to fill almost 300 Olympic-sized pools.
  • Beautiful Browns

    News article
    Do you know where in New Zealand to find Neptune’s necklace or rimurapa? Or how to tell apart Carpophyllum from Cystophora?
  • Beautiful Browns

    An interactive guide to the large brown seaweeds of New Zealand.
  • Mercury biomagnification in three geothermally-influenced lakes differing in chemistry and algal biomass

    Research Project
    This research project aimed to understand the causes behind differences in mercury in trout and other organisms in the Bay of Plenty/Te Arawa lakes—in particular what features of each lake explain why mercury in trout is higher in some lakes than in other lakes.
  • Flow requirements for galaxiid fish spawning

    Research Project
    Many of our iconic native fish species, such as whitebait and eels, rely on river flows to cue key life-cycle stages, including migration and reproduction. As pressures on water resources increase, the risk of disrupting these flow cues, and therefore impacting fish populations, becomes greater.
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    Case study example: Bankwood (Kukutaruhe) Stream, Hamilton

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    Baffle design to facilitate fish passage through culverts