In legal terms, there is no practical difference between putting chlorine or fluoride into public water supplies, the High Court in New Plymouth heard today.

A court has been told that NZ local councils have a clear legal power to fluoridate public water supplies, a power devolved to them by Parliament in 2002.

Lithium could be added to water supplies by NZ's local councils under the same vague rules that allow them to add fluoride, a test court case has heard today.

A 35-year-old surfer was fatally mauled by a shark Saturday off a notorious stretch of Australia's west coast, police said.

NZ rivers and swimming spots will increasingly be polluted by algae and contain fewer fish as the dairy boom continues, an environmental watchdog has warned.

A scheme promising riches and protection from droughts for a struggling rural community has inspired fierce resistance - but critics say their concerns risk being drowned in a rushed process

In the last of a three-part series, Young New Zealander of the Year and CEO of the Sustainable Coastlines Charitable Trust ,Sam Judd, discusses the United Nations Environment Programs’ Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

Surf lifesavers are launching their summer patrols over Labour Weekend, but a mixed bag of weather could deter some would-be beachgoers from taking a splash.

Archaeologists yesterday battled against the tide to rescue 14th century moa bones from a "significant" historical settlement at Awamoa Creek, south of Oamaru.

Sam Judd writes that perhaps the biggest environmental problem we currently face is the contamination of our waterways by nutrients.

A man has died after the boat he was in capsized in the sea off Northland today.

Some Raetihi residents have become ill after 15,000 of diesel spilled into the town's water supply.

A Bluff woman has been named New Zealand's champion of water safety.

Proposed national water quality standards are weak and will allow for further degradation of New Zealand's rivers and streams even to levels seen downstream of raw sewage outlets.

The drowning of a PhD student who was washed off rocks while collecting water samples has prompted Auckland University to break with decades of research tradition.

Mystery continues to surround the death of a young man whose body was found on Ninety Mile Beach in 2011, an inquest heard today.

Family of seven missing crew members on board the Nina are convinced they're alive and want the search to begin again, despite no sign of them since June 4.