Water quality monitoring

State of the Environment water quality monitoring in the Waituna catchment and lagoon helps us to understand what is happening currently and determine trends over time. It provides us with a more detailed understanding of the system dynamics. Have a look at the Waituna maps to see where the monitoring sites are.

LAWA link: https://www.lawa.org.nz/explore-data/southland-reg...

Monitoring at the four Waituna Lagoon State of the Environment sites began on 4 August 2003. At various times there has also been monitoring carried out at other sites including Shand Bay and Walker Bay in 2002, and the lagoon monitoring platform.

The current sites are monitored on a continuous monthly basis, with one site having the top and bottom measures recorded and sampled. The information collected for this programme is used specifically for monitoring of key values and for trend analysis of the lagoon health. It will help us better understand how the system functions and which stressors are likely to dominate the system.