Freshwater quality

NIWA provides measurement, knowledge and tools to the managers of New Zealand's stream, river, lake and groundwater quality.

  • Reducing sedimentation

    Feature story
    New Zealand is a land of erosion. We’re losing about 192 million tonnes of soil a year, according to the latest report Our Land 2018, from the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics NZ.
  • Community project inspires scientists

    Media release
    A project to restore a stream catchment in Kaikōura—damaged in the 2016 earthquake—is being described as inspirational by NIWA scientists.
  • Water sensitive urban design: a concrete case

    Feature story
    The hard concrete surfaces that characterise New Zealand towns and cities are barely likely to register as a problem with most people. But they're never far from the minds of our urban water researchers.
  • Environmental Flows Strategic Allocation Platform (EFSAP)

    EFSAP is a water planning and management tool designed to assist with setting regional or large-scale water resource use limits for rivers.
  • Underwater footage shows exceptional clarity of Te Waikoropupū Springs

    Media release
    On the bottom of New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs is an underwater garden of vivid green, pinks and inky blues.
  • Waikoropupu Springs video

    NIWA freshwater scientists have completed monitoring the ultra-clear water of the Te Waikoropupū Springs near Takaka.
  • Water sensitive Urban Design 26 April 2018

  • Water count

    Feature story
    Ruth Beran discovers that public interest in the state of fresh waterways has driven a dramatic change in the tools used by scientists.
  • Summer Series 2017 - Citizen scientists take on Hutt River

    Feature story
    A group of volunteers who love the Hutt River are helping to care for it over summer.
  • Citizen scientists take on Hutt River

    Citizen scientists take on Hutt River
  • Proud of your plants? Take the survey

    Media release
    A new online survey is forming the basis of the National Riparian Restoration Database, which will help scientists to improve understanding of how riparian buffers benefit waterways.
    Take the survey
  • Q&A: going to sea for fresh water

    Feature story
    Since the end of June, a barge has been stationed just off Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula drilling into the seabed to find an alternative water source for the city.