Freshwater

A NIWA-led project to support anyone wishing to deploy a water quality sensor 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.

The New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database (NZFFD) contains over 50,000 freshwater fish observations from across New Zealand from 1901 to the present.

A new NIWA study in Wellington Harbour will help scientists find untapped drinking water around the world.

About 76 per cent of indigenous freshwater fish species, that’s 39 out of 54, are threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened.

Deep beneath Waitomo’s rolling hills lies a maze of caves and underground rivers. Here, NIWA researchers braved the dark waters to measure the current and hunt for fishy invaders under the twinkle of the cave’s magical glowworms.

River flows in New Zealand have changed dramatically over the past 50 to 90 years as the climate has varied, a new study has found.

Nearly half of New Zealand’s river network is partially or fully inaccessible to migratory fish, a new study shows.

Freshwater Cultural Keystone (Taonga) Species such as tuna, kōura and kāeo/kākahi are central to the identity and wellbeing of many Māori communities throughout Āotearoa. For generations, these species have sustained communities and been vital in the transfer of customary practices and knowledge from one generation to the next.

As the concerns over water resources and the environment increase, the importance of combined water management, which acknowledges the integrated nature of groundwater and surface water, and manages them as a single resource, is critical to sustain both human society and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Biological traits analysis is a valuable tool for measuring ecosystem function

Downloadable and printable guides on identification of common freshwater invertebrates found in New Zealand waterways and lakes.