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What are benthic macroinvertebrates? Benthic macroinvertebrates are small animals without backbones that live on or just below the stream-bed. Most benthic macroinvertebrates are big enough to be seen with the naked eye, and range in length from 0.25 mm to 15 cm in the case of a fully grown freshwat...

What do we mean by 'state'? On LAWA, we use the term 'state' to describe the current condition at a river or stream site for a given water quality indicator. 

What do we mean by ‘trend’? A trend is a long-term, overall change in data in a consistent direction. Trends help us understand how water quality indicators behave over time, and whether conditions are improving or degrading. In river and lake water quality, a trend shows if measured values have gen...

What are faecal indicator bacteria? Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are bacteria that come from the gut of warm-blooded animals (including people). FIB are introduced to the environment through animal and bird droppings, effluent and waste water discharges, and stormwater run-off. The presence of th...

Keeping your dog safe and healthy this summer A trip to the river or lake is a lot of fun for dogs and their owners alike. Knowing how to keep your dog safe from toxic algae means you are able to relax and enjoy the adventure even more. Toxic algae can be seriously harmful to dogs and people, even i...

New Zealand Lakes Lakes are localised bodies of water that are surrounded by land. They may be fed by, or feed into rivers or may be maintained by rainfall and groundwater inputs. Lakes exist in all shapes and sizes and may be natural (for example formed by glaciation or landslides) or man-made (for...

The NRWQN (National River Water Quality Network) consists of 77 sites on 35 rivers that are fairly evenly distributed over the two main islands of New Zealand. Monitoring commenced in January 1989. Water samples are collected monthly and analysed for a range of physical and chemical parameters (i.e....

What is Nitrogen? Nitrogen is a naturally occurring chemical element, with the symbol N. In its gas form (N2), nitrogen makes up about 80% of the Earth's atmosphere. In other forms it is one of the most important nutrients for plant growth. It is also found in amino acids that make up proteins, in n...

What is pH? The degree of acidity, or alkalinity, in water as measured on a scale of 0 to 14 where 7 is neutral, less than 7 is more acidic, and greater than 7 is more alkaline.

What is Phosphorus? Phosphorus is an element with the symbol P that attaches to soil particles and is naturally present in water in low concentrations. Together with nitrogen, it is an essential nutrient for instream plant life and is commonly measured as either total phosphorus (TP) or dissolved re...

Quartiles are used to provide relative ranking of values for river water quality indicators on LAWA to determine current state.  Sites in Quartile 1 (Q1) are in the best 25% of comparable sites, whereas sites that rank in the worst 25% of comparable sites are grouped into Quartile 4 (Q4). This is a...

Water quality and conditions can change quickly. Recreating in contaminated water is a risk to human and animal health. To help keep you, your family, and dogs well this summer follow the Swim Smart Checklist below.