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Recreational activities that bring people physically into contact with water, like swimming. Contact recreation can involve a risk of involuntary ingestion or inhalation of water which is why rivers used for contact recreation need to have good water quality so we don’t get sick from swimming in the...

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...

Flow refers to the volume of water in the river flowing past a point in one second and is given in cubic metres of water per second. A cubic meter per second can be written as m3/s, or cumecs, and equals 1000 litres per second. To give you an idea about how much water that is, 0.7 m3/s would fill an...

Freshwater objectives are set in regional planning documents and describe the desired state of a waterbody, having taken into account all desired values. For example, to be able to generate electricity or have sufficient water for swimming, a river will need to have enough water. So flow will need t...

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 latest flow estimate for a particular site. Live data has not been checked for accuracy before displaying. To give you an idea about how much water that is, 0.7 m3/s would fill an Olympic swimming pool in an hour. A flow of 42 m3/s would fill the same pool in a minute.

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.

What are toxic algae? Toxic algae is a common name for toxic cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms that play a very important role in many land and aquatic ecosystems. Cyanobacteria are naturally occurring and live in a range of waterways, from near-pristine to those more impacted b...

Getting to know estuaries Estuaries are unique places where freshwater meets and mixes with saltwater from the sea. They are sheltered, semi-enclosed bodies of water and are often called harbours, bays, lagoons, inlets, fiords, sounds and wetlands.

What is water clarity? Water clarity refers to the ability of light to travel through water and has two important aspects: light penetration and visual clarity.

LAWA provides New Zealand's most comprehensive recreational water quality information to help you decide where and when to swim. The swim icons on LAWA show how water quality results compare to national guidelines.