"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," said Iain Maxwell, the regional council's group manager for resource management.
Mr Maxwell said the council was undertaking faecal source tracking to understand the cause of the contamination levels at Opoutama.
Contamination from septic tanks had been an issue in the past in the nearby Mahia area, he said. The problem has led to a major initiative by Wairoa District Council to put in place effluent management projects.
Seasonal demands on beach communities could be a factor in pollution, Mr Maxwell said, with increased demand on septic tanks as holiday makers flocked to seaside settlements over summer.
"We don't accept that having high levels of faecal contamination in our bathing beaches is a good thing, but we're putting this information up to inform people, and making them aware of the risks," he said.
"And we are working with those communities to resolve those issues - to reduce of remove the risk."
The regional council provides data to the LAWA site and continues to display this information on its website.
The B4U swim webpage on the council's website (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 three 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.
