Waitara River at Town wharf

The site is situated in the lower tidal reaches of this large river, around 2km upstream of the river mouth. There are consented treated waste discharges from dairy ponds in the catchment upstream of the site, particularly in the Manganui River sub-catchment.

The name Waitara comes from the Maori language meaning "mountain stream". The river has a mud bottom and is prone to flooding. An early hydroelectric station was created by damming the Tariki, a tributary of the Waitara. The stop banks at the mouth of the river are set to have major upgrades to minimize flooding damage.
This site is used for swimming, whitebaiting (in season), fishing, walking and boating.

Recreational bathing surveys over the last two summers 85% (2018-2019) and 83% (2019-2020) of samples met the freshwater microbiological water quality guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Environment in conjunction with the Ministry of Health (MfE, 2003) and did not exceed the ‘Action’ level (>550 E.coli cfu/100mls).

The State of the Environment technical report showing the freshwater recreational monitoring results is available at

www.trc.govt.nz/environmental-monitoring-technical-reports/

Get directions to this beach

Water Quality

Met water quality standards less than 60% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on March 27th, 2023. The Swim Guide - New Zealand updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on March 27th, 2023 at 4:54 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Taranaki Regional Council monitors water quality at popular swimming spots throughout the Taranaki region.
Water quality data on Swim Guide is sourced from the LAWA Can I Swim Here? website. www.lawa.org.nz/swim

At this site, water is regularly tested for levels of E. coli and potentially toxic algae during the summer months. E. coli is a faecal indicator bacteria is used to indicate the level of harmful pathogens in the water, and the presence of toxic algae blooms can be harmful to people and animals.

See information on recreational water quality monitoring in New Zealand in the LAWA factsheet: https://www.lawa.org.nz/learn/factsheets/coastal-and-freshwater-recreation-monitoring/

Beach sites are shown as a GREEN swim icon if the latest E. coli test result was in the range of 0 - 550 E. coli / 100 mL or the toxic algae level is below 20% coverage on rocks.

Beach sites are shown as a RED swim icon if the latest E. coli test result exceeded 550 E. coli / 100 mL or the toxic algae level exceeds 20% coverage or mats are forming on the river's edge.

A RED swim icon status is also assigned if this site frequently exceeds the standards or there is a temporary water quality issue outside the routine testing programme (e.g. sewage overflow).

See information on the standards for recreational water quality monitoring in New Zealand in the 'What do the swim icons mean?' LAWA factsheet.

LAWA recommends for all sites, to avoid swimming for 2 - 3 days after significant rain, even for sites that normally have good water quality.

A good rule of thumb is to check that you can see your toes in knee deep water.

Toxic algae blooms can form rapidly, and even small amounts can be harmful - stay safe and get to know what to look for here so you can avoid it

(link to https://www.lawa.org.nz/learn/factsheets/potentially-toxic-algae/)

See www.lawa.org.nz/swim for up to date information on current warnings and alerts, weather conditions, real-time water temperature and flow rates, and what facilities are available, the monitoring history at this site and helpful factsheets.

Water Quality Graph