Freshwater Update 70, August 2016

19 July 2016

Freshwater Update 70 brings you the latest information from our Freshwater & Estuaries centre, including an Account of New Zealand Water, NIWA's Eddy Covariance Towers, A hydrologically sensitive invertebrate community index for New Zealand rivers, a look at what happens when communities monitor their local streams, Mangrove forests and the warming of lake surface waters around the world.

 

The Water Accounts of New Zealand

Water resources are important to New Zealand’s economy and electricity supply and we are fortunate to receive as much precipitation as we do. Compared with many other countries New Zealand is relative water-rich. But this abundance varies from year to year, month to month, and region to region, leaving some places with too much at times (flooding) or with too little (drought).

What happens when communities monitor their local streams?

“Citizen science” is a buzz word in environment and conservation circles these days. New technologies and increasing concern about the state of our environment are coming together, and more members of the public are getting out there to monitor everything from snowfall to shifts in species distributions. With freshwater quality still the number one environmental issue of public concern in New Zealand, it is not surprising that stream monitoring is a growing area for citizen science.