Coastal research and monitoring
Council undertakes a range of coastal monitoring and research to better understand our coastal environment and how human activities on land and in the coast are impacting the health of the moana.
Water quality
Maintaining good coastal water quality is essential to supporting healthy marine ecosystems and human activities such as recreation, tourism, aquaculture, and fisheries.
To assess the state and trends of Northland’s coastal water quality, council carries out routine monthly monitoring at 46 sites. Water quality in Northland’s open coast is generally good, although it is more variable in estuaries and tidal creek environments.
The biggest water quality issues are found in the Hātea River in Whangārei Harbour, the Kaipara Harbour and the Hokianga Harbour.
We also have water quality issues in some of our smaller estuaries like Aurere, Waipū and Ruakaka Estuary. These smaller systems are tidal rivers where water quality varies with tidal cycles and rainfall, tending to be poorer at low tide after rain, and generally very good on a flood tide when ocean water enters the estuary.
All our water quality data can be accessed via our data hub. We also produce annual water quality reports and a more detail technical report every five years.
Report: Northland Coastal Water Quality - results from 2018-2020 (PDF 6.11 MB)
Safeswim
Occasionally, some of our swimming spots will have issues with water quality, particularly following heavy rainfall. Our water quality monitoring across Te Taitokerau helps keep people informed about when and where it’s safest to swim, using the Safeswim platform.
Safeswim is a joint initiative between Auckland Council, Northland Regional Council, Surf Life Saving New Zealand and other organisations. It provides live information on the conditions at many of the popular swimming sites around Northland. It also provides a three-day forecast on water quality, tides, weather information and if the beach is currently lifeguarded.
Our long-term bacteria monitoring, along with regular sampling, helps support Safeswim’s water quality forecasts.
You can check out the water quality at your favourite swimming spot on the Safeswim website.
Wave buoy
NRC monitors conditions outside the Bay of Islands harbour with an offshore wind and wave data buoy. The buoy provides real time data about wave height, direction and period.
This information helps with the safe pilotage of cruise ships and to help commercial and recreational vessels heading offshore. It also provides important information that can be used in oceanic research.
Litter and marine plastic
Plastic is lightweight, cheap, and versatile and has become a ubiquitous part of our modern lives. But as plastic production and use has soared, plastic waste has leaked into the environment, polluting our rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Plastic litter is one of the biggest pollutants of our oceans and can have damaging or lethal effects on animals that ingest or get entangled in it. Our monitoring shows that very high densities of litter are found in the Hātea River in Whangārei and most of the litter (~80%) were made from plastic.
Stormwater plastic project
To estimate just how much plastic and litter is reaching our rivers and estuaries each year, NRC teamed up with NorthTec, Whitebait Connection, Whangārei District Council, Far North District Council, Kaipara District Council and Northland District Health Board to install 51 ‘LittaTraps’ at representative locations across the region.
The LittaTraps are a simple cost-effective net that fits inside stormwater grates to trap plastic and litter pollution that would otherwise be carried by stormwater straight to rivers or the ocean. Traps were installed at a variety of locations across the region including playgrounds, car parks, supermarkets, fast food premises, and industrial sites. Over the 12-month study, the 51 traps captured 21,006 items with over 70% of the litter items collected in the LittaTraps made of plastic. This data was used to estimate that more than 13.2 million litter items are discharged from urban stormwater drains in Northland every year.
Plastic that makes it way into the stormwater network, ends up discharged to the coast.
Installed LittaTraps intercept pollutants such as plastic.
Micro plastics
Plastic in the environment breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces over time. These tiny fragments are called microplastics.
Council has partnered with iwi, hapū, the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science) and the Bioeconomy Science Institute for a research initiative focused on microplastic contamination in Northland. This research contributed to the nationwide ‘Aotearoa Impacts and Mitigation of Microplastics Project,’ aiming to establish baseline data on microplastic levels across various environments, shedding light on associated risks, including impacts on ecosystems and primary industries. Results from sampling revealed that microplastics were present in beach sand from all of the open coast beaches that were sampled and in shellfish samples collected from Houhora Harbour, Te Haumi in the Bay of islands, Whangārei Harbour, and Mangawhai Harbour.
Example of a transect along the beach, with microplastics inset.
Microplastics found in a Tuangi/cockle.
Plastic pollution in Te Taitokerau /Northland
Explore this Story Map to learn how Northland Regional Council, iwi, hapū, Crown Institutes, global researchers and partner organisations are tracing the pathways and impacts of plastic pollution across Te Taitokerau.
Dune monitoring
Sand dunes are a natural defence against coastal hazards such as inundation and erosion. They provide habitats for native flora and fauna (plants and animals), including many threatened species. Dunes are also culturally significant, and many contain sensitive archaeological sites.
But many of Northland’s dunes have been lost to development and other land uses. Most of our remaining sand dunes are threatened by invasive weeds, grazing animals, and human behaviour (such as driving, walking or riding through dunes).
Monitoring changes in sand dunes over time is part of keeping these coastal taonga strong. Getting accurate data is vital to monitor the effectiveness of dune management projects and highlight areas that need further work.
We monitor dune vegetation annually at 14 sites throughout Northland to provide a snapshot of dune health. This helps us keep a record of vegetation cover, and the abundance of native plants versus pest plants. We’ve also begun flying a drone over the monitoring sites, to create a digital elevation model that provides information about a dune’s shape and profile. Regular surveys help us spot changes over time.
NRC and other groups can use this information to assess the effectiveness of their restoration work, such as planting, pest control and weed control. Data is uploaded to the Coastal Restoration Trust’s website and is available to volunteers, iwi and the public.
Fauna monitoring
We have also teamed up with Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board and Northtec on a pilot study in Bream Bay to monitor the fauna (animals), such as native skinks and the endangered katipō spider, that live in our dunes. We did this alongside the vegetation monitoring to get a fuller understanding of dune health, and the relationships between plants and creatures that live in the dunes.
The study assessed the current state of dunes in places where work (such as pest and weed control, and planting) is happening, versus areas where no work is occurring. We have found native copper skinks and shore skinks and the endangered katipō spider at all four monitoring sites in Bream Bay, highlighting how important our dunes are for our native biodiversity.
This information will help us understand how our restoration work can improve the health and ecology of these precious environments. We plan to use learnings from this study to incorporate fauna surveys into dune monitoring at other Northland sites.
Dune monitoring at Puwheke.