Rivers

Latest news

Scientists are seeing more toxic algae in our lakes and rivers compared to previous years, says NIWA. 
Deep beneath Waitomo’s rolling hills lies a maze of caves and underground rivers. Here, NIWA researchers braved the dark waters to measure the current and hunt for fishy invaders under the twinkle of the cave’s magical glowworms.
River flows in New Zealand have changed dramatically over the past 50 to 90 years as the climate has varied, a new study has found.
Nearly half of New Zealand’s river network is partially or fully inaccessible to migratory fish, a new study shows.

Latest videos

Hydrology in the Waipori Gorge, Dunedin

For over 100 years Trustpower's Waipori power scheme has supplied Dunedin with hydroelectric power. Our field hydrology team visit the site every three months to take essential measurements of the river flow. We headed out with NIWA environmental technician Elliot Bowie to learn more...

The world's most mysterious fish

A video about The world's most mysterious fish. NIWA researchers are working with iwi to try to unlock the secrets of New Zealand tuna—freshwater eels. Every year tiny, glass eels wash in on the tide at river mouths along our coast. But where do they come from and how do they get there?

 

Overview of SHMAK

How healthy is your stream? SHMAK—the New Zealand Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit—has been designed to help you find out. It also allows stream health to be tracked over time, so you can recognise if stream health is getting better, worse or staying the same.

A day out measuring at Molesworth

A day out measuring at Molesworth

This project aims to increase our knowledge of aquatic ecosystems and their restoration, and apply this to degraded streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries.
Scientists are seeing more toxic algae in our lakes and rivers compared to previous years, says NIWA. 
Deep beneath Waitomo’s rolling hills lies a maze of caves and underground rivers. Here, NIWA researchers braved the dark waters to measure the current and hunt for fishy invaders under the twinkle of the cave’s magical glowworms.
River flows in New Zealand have changed dramatically over the past 50 to 90 years as the climate has varied, a new study has found.
Nearly half of New Zealand’s river network is partially or fully inaccessible to migratory fish, a new study shows.
Storm-tide red alerts are the highest high tide (also known as king tides) dates that Emergency Managers and Coastal Hazard Managers should write in their diaries and keep an eye on adverse weather (low barometric pressure, onshore winds), river levels and sea conditions (waves and swell). This page shows the 2023 dates of the highest high-tide "red alert" dates, and the lowest high-tide dates.

Fallout from nuclear testing helps reveal the importance of streambank erosion in New Zealand catchments

The obvious and sometimes dramatic nature of streambank erosion suggests that it may be a significant contributor of sediment to New Zealand rivers. Despite this, there have been very few attempts to determine the relative importance of streambank erosion as a source of sediment in New Zealand catchments.
This guide discusses design principles and provides high-level information about the likely performance of riparian buffers.
Estuaries are coastal waterbodies where freshwater mixes with seawater. Many estuaries in Aotearoa New Zealand have been impacted by pollutants and contaminants entering via freshwater.
New Zealand has just over 50 native freshwater fish species. Of these, 85 % are endemic and 75 % are deemed to be at risk of decline or are threatened.
NIWA is asking people in flood-affected areas to contribute photos to a national database to support understanding of flood hazard and flood risk.
Report: Trends analysis for selected indicators of Waikato River health and wellbeing 2010-2019
Flood flows on the Buller River this month were the largest of any river in Aotearoa New Zealand in almost 100 years, NIWA measurements show.
A combination of artificial intelligence and scientific ingenuity looks set to be the next step forward in protecting Aotearoa New Zealand’s lakes and rivers from invasive aquatic weeds.
Hydrology in the Waipori Gorge, Dunedin

For over 100 years Trustpower's Waipori power scheme has supplied Dunedin with hydroelectric power. Our field hydrology team visit the site every three months to take essential measurements of the river flow. We headed out with NIWA environmental technician Elliot Bowie to learn more...

Preliminary analysis by NIWA climate scientists has shown that the recent Canterbury rainfall was so extreme in some inland places that it could be expected to happen only once every 200 years.
The prodigious rainmaker that hit Canterbury earlier this month saw NIWA field teams out in the elements collecting flood data from bridges, cableways and jetboat gaugings.
The eFlows Explorer webtool is designed to aid broad-scale river flow management planning across New Zealand
A NIWA scientist is asking for the help of skiers, mountaineers and alpine professionals to collect snow for a new research project.

Pages

All staff working on this subject

Hydro-ecological Modeller
Freshwater Fish Ecologist
placeholder image
Riparian and Wetland Scientist
placeholder image
River Geomorphologist
placeholder image
Land and Water Scientist
Regional Manager - Christchurch
placeholder image
Remote Sensing Scientist
Surface Water - Groundwater Modeller
Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Scientist
Principal Scientist - Natural Hazards and Hydrodynamics
Principal Scientist - Aquatic Pollution
Hydrology Scientist
Hydrodynamics Scientist
Regional Manager - Auckland
Algal Ecologist
Subscribe to RSS - Rivers