Tauranga police Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said the death was not being treated as suspicious but police needed help to identify the woman, who was found dead in the Kopurererua Stream near Waihi Road about 7am.
The stream feeds into the Waikereo Estuary and runs under one of the city's busiest roads.
Mr Turner said the woman appeared to be aged between 65 and 75.
"She was of a slight build with short, grey hair. She was wearing a black jacket and navy blue or black polar fleece vest, sleeveless, with denim three-quarter pants and black shoes," he said.
"She had a single gold band on her left ring finger."
Mr Turner said the woman's body was found in the river by a member of the public, adjacent to the Daisy Hardwick walking track.
"We believe she has been dead a short while."
8.19am: Police have described the discovery of a body in a central Tauranga estuary this morning as a 'sensitive case'.
A body has been found on the Daisy Hardwick Walkway. Police at the scene near Judea.
Tauranga resident Lindsay Richards received a call from his wife who saw police officers gathering around a blue tarpaulin on the Daisy Hardwick Walkway on the Waikareo Estuary about 7am.
Mr Richards, who used to work at the Bay of Plenty Times, went to the scene, took photos and spoke with police.
''The policeman who asked what I was doing said it was abit of a sensitive case. Something will come out in a police report no doubt.''
Police have been unavailable for comment this morning.
EARLIER: Police are at the scene where a body has been found in central Tauranga this morning.
