New website connects students with NZ rivers
A new website housing New Zealand’s water quality data offers students and educators the chance to connect with what’s going on in their region’s waterways.
The website, Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA), is a collaboration between New Zealand’s 16 regional and unitary councils, the Ministry for the Environment, Cawthron Institute and Massey University.
A New Zealand first, LAWA displays state and trend information for over 1100 freshwater monitoring sites, giving the public access to all of the country’s water quality monitoring in one place and in a common, easy to understand format.
“Never before has there been such a focus on the state of New Zealand’s freshwater but until now there has been no one place to access information about the quality of our rivers,” explained Fran Wilde, chair of the regional council sector group.
“Freshwater is a vital asset to our country and its important that the public can see and understand for themselves the state of a particular river or catchment and how it may be affected by what’s going on around it.”
Regional councils measure a range of parameters when assessing water quality, the most common are E. coli, nitrogen, phosphorous, water clarity and pH. LAWA allows users to see where a river or catchment sits in comparison to others for each parameter and indicates whether things are improving, degrading or remaining stable.
Along with the water quality data is a learning section, complete with glossary and factsheets to help visitors to the site better understand the science behind river monitoring.
“We want to see children and young people using the website to develop their own learning about river ecosystems and the pressures they face. For classes undertaking stream studies or river restoration projects, LAWA provides an excellent source of information to complement students’ own inquiry,” said Ms Wilde.
The development of LAWA was supported by the Tindall Foundation, a philanthropic family foundation. Co-founder, Sir Stephen Tindall was keen to see the vision of LAWA realised, after experiencing difficulty in accessing clear information about the state of New Zealand rivers.
“I have a personal interest in this project because I love swimming and love our waterways. I spend every summer holiday with my family around the water swimming, fishing and kayaking,” said Sir Tindall.
“To me, the fact that the quality of our waterways is on the decline, is a horrifying thought. As a family Foundation we were keen to fund the LAWA website so that information on water quality is easily accessible to the public. And, by collecting data, we can identify problems early and see if water quality is improving or not. Then we can see how we can help, and encourage others to do the same. This is about preserving our rivers and fresh waterways for the future to ensure the safeguarding of our ecosystems our clean green image and to protect our beaches too.”
View the website at www.lawa.org.nz
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