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

Environmental monitoring technician Patrick Butler has spent hours travelling between the upper and lower reaches of Canterbury’s Waimakariri and Hurunui Rivers. His mission – river water quality sampling.
What does science tell us about New Zealand flounder?
How much is too much? Susan Pepperell looks at some of the tough decisions looming around access to freshwater and how science is helping with solutions.
New Zealand’s native fish are doing their best to climb up ramps in a NIWA laboratory so scientists can learn how to better help them navigate our tricky waterways.
A new study has identified seven freshwater species native to Aotearoa-New Zealand that will likely be highly or very highly vulnerable to climate change.
Te Nehenehenui (previously Maniapoto Māori Trust board) and NIWA are working collaboratively to support Ngāti Maniapoto whānau to reconnect with and participate in the assessment of their freshwater according to their values.

Lagarosiphon be gone

An underwater invader recently brought key agencies and organisations including Land Information New Zealand, NIWA, Otago Regional Council, Boffa Miskell, Department of Conservation, Ministry for Primary Industries, Fish and Game and Lake Guardians, together in Wanaka.
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.

Under the light of the moon where the river meets the sea, NIWA researchers are planning to catch tiny fish that are all but invisible to the naked eye.
The alp-fed braided rivers of Canterbury are treasured for their landscape, recreational amenities, salmon- and trout-fishing, and unique riverine environments – which provide habitat to a host of endangered birds – but they are under threat from land-use intensification and a growing demand for irrigation water.
Braided rivers are an arena where woody weeds and floods are in constant competition with each other. Braided rivers naturally flood frequently, repeatedly mobilising their bed sediments and shifting their multiple channels.
Most of the plastic in the ocean originates on land, being carried to the estuaries and coasts by rivers. Managing this plastic on land before it reaches the river could be the key to stemming the tide of marine-bound plastics. The aim of this project is to understand the sources and fate of plastic pollution carried by urban rivers using the Kaiwharawhara Stream as a case study.
It may be rubbish to everyone else, but to Amanda Valois each little scrap of plastic on a river bank or in a waterway tells a valuable story.
Christchurch’s Red Zone is to be the focal point of a scientific experiment involving street lights and insects over summer. 
The Fish Passage Assessment Tool has been developed to provide an easy to use, practical tool for recording instream structures and assessing their likely impact on fish movements and river connectivity.

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All staff working on this subject

Hydro-ecological Modeller
Freshwater Fish Ecologist
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Riparian and Wetland Scientist
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River Geomorphologist
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Land and Water Scientist
Regional Manager - Christchurch
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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
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