Freshwater

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

  • Public asked to help build national flood photo database

    Media release
    NIWA is asking people in flood-affected areas to contribute photos to a national database to support understanding of flood hazard and flood risk.
  • CKS2020 - Developing tools and frameworks

    This programme developed approaches to enable the recognition and prioritisation of cultural keystone species (CKS) in co-management, restoration and monitoring to help sustain the social, economic and ecological health and wellbeing of Aotearoa-New Zealand’s freshwater ecosystems.
  • CKS2020 - Communicating state and trends

    New ways to communicate the state and trends of taonga populations.
  • Waikato Dynamic Models Project Proposal

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

    Research Project
    NIWA is developing a national river flow forecasting tool for New Zealand that aims to support and strengthen our planning for and response to extreme rainfall events.
  • Bottom lining for the control of submerged lake weeds

    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. The lining is held in place by weights (e.g., rocks or sandbags) or by pinning. This control method is also called ‘benthic barriers’.
  • Freshwater bioremediation using native mussels - focussed on shallow eutrophic lakes

    Research Project
    The project aim was to harness the filter-feeding capacity of native freshwater mussels on rafts to assist in lake restoration.
  • Irrigation Insight

    Feature story
    Irrigation Insight is a joint industry programme funded by MBIE to examine, on working farms, the ease and effectiveness of using high-resolution weather forecasting, production potential, and drainage estimations for on-farm water management.
  • Hauraki Integrated Land-Water Modelling

    Research Project
    The Inner Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana ecosystem is facing proliferations of algae, de-oxygenation, reduced pH (acidification), reduced water clarity, and muddier sediments arising from historical and future land-derived contaminant inputs.
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    Report: Trends analysis for selected indicators of Waikato River health and wellbeing 2010-2019

    Service
    Report: Trends analysis for selected indicators of Waikato River health and wellbeing 2010-2019
  • Check Clean Dry actions

    The Check Clean Dry Campaign aims to stop the spread of freshwater pests by encouraging people going through more than one waterway to check, clean and dry their gear in between.
  • Protecting our taonga together

    Feature story
    Alex Fear looks at the Cultural Keystones Species research programme, a research partnership that grew out of the vision of a Ngāti Hau kaumatua.