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Hawke's Bay LakesNgā roto o Te Matau-a-Māui

Hawke's Bay Regional Council monitors water quality and general health of 8 lakes in the region and data is available here as well as information on Lake Tutira investigations.

Lakes

Hawke's Bay has a number of lakes, the largest of which is Waikaremoana in Te Urewera. 

For water quality information on Hawke’s Bay lakes go to the website LAWA

Lake Monitoring

Hawke's Bay Regional Council monitors water quality and general health of 8 lakes in the region (from north – south):

  • Waikareiti
  • Waikaremoana – live data buoy
  • Kaweka Lakes (two)
  • Opouahi
  • Tūtira –live data buoy - see below
  • Waikopiro
  • Oingo
  • Runanga

Water quality monitoring buoy at Tutira:

the Regional Council and NIWA have a monitoring buoy on the main lake above one of the deeper holes (42m) for a long term study of the lake. The buoy measures dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, water temperature and turbidity.

The data is automatically updated to this website and you can check it below.

Tūtira Water quality buoy

Other lakes that the Regional Council does not monitor include Horseshoe, Whatuma and Lopez.

We also do investigate habitats and ecology of lakes for specific biodiversity projects.

Lake Tūtira investigations

Lake Tūtira has had water quality issues for several decades. Despite more than 30 years of works to improve water quality, the lake continues to have frequent algal blooms which limits swimming and other recreation. 

Starting in 2015 the Regional Council has been developing a computer model of the Tūtira – Waikopiro catchment to help understand how the lake works and improve water quality. Initial findings are that the lake water ‘flips’ in certain conditions, when cooler water from the lake bed rises bringing nutrients – algae food! – with it. When that happens algal blooms are likely.

The lake bed of Tūtira is also an amazing resource for geologists studying the history of New Zealand.  Core samples show evidence of successive earthquakes and the Taupō eruptions.

If you are interested in finding more information about Tūtira, the Regional Council has published a book 'Tūtira, a Brief History' - available from the Regional Council for $20.

Environmental Telarc

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While every endeavour has been taken by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and up to date, Hawke's Bay Regional Council shall not be liable for any loss suffered through the use, directly or indirectly, of information on this website. Information contained has been assembled in good faith. Some of the information available in this site is from the New Zealand Public domain and supplied by relevant government agencies. Hawke's Bay Regional Council cannot accept any liability for its accuracy or content. Portions of the information and material on this site, including data, pages, documents, online graphics and images are protected by copyright, unless specifically notified to the contrary. Externally sourced information or material is copyright to the respective provider.

© Hawke's Bay Regional Council - www.hbrc.govt.nz / +64 6 835 9200 / info@hbrc.govt.nz