Media Release

22 December 2014

Another Way to Check Beach Water Quality this Summer

Information on Hawke’s Bay beaches is now on the environmental monitoring website Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA) – http://www.lawa.org.nz/.

The LAWA website was launched in March with information on river water quality at over 1110 sites around the country. This week new data has expanded it to include coastal water quality at New Zealand’s beaches.

“The LAWA site gives people another option for checking water quality, especially making it easy for people holidaying away from home to check the water quality at a nearby beach on LAWA than having to search out the right council website,” says Iain Maxwell, Group Manager Resource Management.

“Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s staff have worked hard over recent weeks to get the data links flowing to the LAWA site so that people can get reliable information on Hawke’s Bay beaches.”

The LAWA website aims to help New Zealanders know more about the quality of their environment around the country. It will eventually show information on air quality, land and biodiversity, as well as water quantity and more fresh and coastal water quality data. LAWA will also contribute to a new national environmental reporting regime being designed by the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council provides data to the LAWA site and continues to display this information on its website. The B4U swim webpage on www.hbrc.govt.nz covers both river and coastal swimming spots and was recently enhanced with improved map and data display. The B4USwim free phone line (on 0800 248 7946) is also still available with information on Hawke’s Bay recreational water quality.

The best advice is still to avoid swimming in any rivers or at the coast for at least 3 days after heavy rain. Beaches near towns and cities are most prone to contamination as rainfall washes material off roads and land into coastal waters.

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