Coastal water quality investigations and research

What we do 

From time to time we carry out coastal water quality investigations and research. Unlike our routine monitoring programmes, these are one-off studies that may have been conducted in response to known water quality issues or in order to better understand how water quality is affected by different environmental conditions.

 

What we found

Potential sources of faecal contaminants in four Coromandel catchments

This study was a follow up to the 2015 snapshot in four of the catchments (Opito Bay, Kuaotunu, Whitianga, and Tairua) to further identify potential causes of contamination. This study was designed to identify the source of faecal contamination within the catchment, linked to land use where possible, and whether it was from humans or animals. It also investigated how the concentration and source of contamination changed during dry and wet weather and during spring and neap tides.

Snapshot of coastal stream mouth water quality in the Coromandel area (January/February 2015)

This was a one-off survey of 18 small coastal stream mouths around the Coromandel area in January and February 2015. The main purpose of this survey was to provide a snapshot of coastal stream mouth water quality in the Coromandel area to assess ecological health and concentration of faecal bacteria that, at high levels, can create a health risk over the time of the survey. A secondary purpose was to trial a new approach to investigate potential sources of faecal bacteria such as humans, possums, dogs, pigs, gulls, ruminant animals, and more specifically, cows.