Te Henui Stream at stream mouth, East End

New Plymouth, Taranaki

This site is located next to a children's playground in East End Reserve and the Coastal Walkway, with a bridge crossing the stream about 100 metres up-stream from the river mouth.

It is a popular recreational area used mainly for walking, cycling, picnicking, with whitebaiting carried out on the banks of the stream when in season. A summer pop-up café is located in the East End Reserve, which overlooks the Te Henui river mouth. Summer usage of this site is high due to the surrounding facilities e.g. public toilet, picnic tables, BBQ burners, skate park and a children's playground.

Ducks and gulls are common at this site and are often encouraged by people feeding them. Investigations have shown that bird excrement is the main cause of water quality failing to meet safe swimming guidelines. Permanent warning signs are located along the river and next to the playground warning the public that the site is unsuitable for swimming and regularly exceeds the microbiological water quality guidelines.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Special health or safety status in effect
Special Status
This means the affiliate organization managing a beach has set the beach status based on special local knowledge or information. Check the beach description and the Sources section for details.

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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