Testing the water

GOING DOWN: Santa had a blast last Christmas, bodyboarding down Rere Falls. The popular swimming spot is among a number of swimming sites monitored by the Gisborne District Council for water quality. That information is now available online, and the monitoring programme has been extended to include more river swimming sites. Picture by Liam Clayton

The latest up-to-date information on water quality at popular swimming spots around Tairawhiti has now become available online.

Council monitors beach water quality every summer but this year has extended the programme to include more river swimming sites.

Monitoring will cover 34 sites in rivers and beaches around the district, with some sites monitored throughout the duration of summer and others just over December and January.

Under the Resource Management Act, councils are required to carry out monitoring at beaches and freshwater sites to determine the bacterial risk grade.

Environmental monitoring team leader Peter Hancock said while Gisborne beaches generally returned a good result for water quality, estuaries and lagoons could be a poorer grade.

'Parents may want to think twice before letting their tamariki swim in these sites, particularly after heavy rain, as run-off from land can cause elevated bacteria levels for at least three days following.

'Long dry periods can also affect water quality, when flushing of lagoons and estuaries occurs less frequently,' he said.

The safe swimming data can be found at www.gdc.govt.nz/can-i-swim-here