Awakino Tasman
Catchment monitoring by King Country River Care commenced in 2021. Initially, monitoring by KCRC covered three monitoring sites, sampled on a quarterly basis.
In 2023 the number of KCRC sites was decreased to one site at Mangaorongo Stream. In addition, the Waikato Regional Council (WRC) has three monitoring sites in the Awakino & Tasman, which are monitored monthly.
. A water quality baseline was calculated from the time the catchment group was formed using five years (Jan 2015 – Dec 2019) of monthly monitoring data, collected at the three WRC sites
The location of the 6 monitoring sites in Awakino & Tasman are shown on the right.
Sub Catchment Monitoring Sites
Full Report Available to Download
Figure 1. Water quality dials for the five sites in the Awakino & Tasman catchment. The dial on top shows the sub-catchment baseline (2015-2019) and the second dial combines results collected in the 2025 monitoring period.
November 2025
Water quality was Fair in Mangaorongo stream (Site 3).
E. coli concentrations were elevated (980 cells per 100 mL), exceeding health guidelines for swimming (540 cells per 100 mL).
Nitrogen: Nitrate concentrations were moderate (0.54 mg/L), falling well below the ecological toxicity threshold (2.4 mg/L). Ammonia concentrations were very low (<0.005 mg/L). Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was moderate (0.54 mg/L), just exceeding the ecological impact threshold (0.5 mg/L).
Phosphorus: Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) was slightly elevated (0.015 mg/L).
Suspended sediment: Water clarity was Good (0.87 m), relative to the national bottom line (0.61 m).
The results in the table below have been graded according to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM, 2020).
Sample Collection Day: 12th November 2025
2025 Quarterly Summaries
February 2025
Water quality was Fair in Mangaorongo stream (Site 3).
E. coli concentrations were elevated (620 cells per 100 mL), exceeding recommended health guidelines for swimming (540 cells per 100 mL).
Nitrogen: Nitrate concentrations were moderate (0.53 mg/L), falling well below ecological toxicity levels (2.4 mg/L). Ammonia concentrations were low (0.009 mg/L). Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was slightly elevated (0.54 mg/L), falling above the ecological impact threshold (0.5 mg/L).
Phosphorus: Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) was very low (0.005 mg/L).
Suspended sediment/Water Clarity: Water clarity was excellent (3.13 m), relative to the national bottom line (0.61 m).
The results in the table below have been graded according to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM, 2020).
Collection date: 27th February
2025 Quarterly Summaries
May 2025
Water quality was Excellent in Mangaorongo stream (Site 3).
E. coli concentrations were very low (110 cells per 100 mL), falling well within health guidelines for swimming (540 cells per 100 mL).
Nitrogen: Nitrate concentrations were very low (0.10 mg/L), falling well below the ecological toxicity threshold (2.4 mg/L). Ammonia concentrations were also very low (<0.005 mg/L). Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was corresponding very low (0.10 mg/L), falling well below the ecological impact threshold (0.5 mg/L).
Phosphorus: Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) was very low (0.004 mg/L).
Suspended sediment/Water Clarity: Water clarity was Excellent (1.97 m), relative to the national bottom line (0.61 m).
The results in the table below have been graded according to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM, 2020).
Collection date: 15th May 2025
2025 Quarterly Summaries
November 2025
Water quality was Fair in Mangaorongo stream (Site 3).
E. coli concentrations were elevated (980 cells per 100 mL), exceeding health guidelines for swimming (540 cells per 100 mL).
Nitrogen: Nitrate concentrations were moderate (0.54 mg/L), falling well below the ecological toxicity threshold (2.4 mg/L). Ammonia concentrations were very low (<0.005 mg/L). Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was moderate (0.54 mg/L), just exceeding the ecological impact threshold (0.5 mg/L).
Phosphorus: Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) was slightly elevated (0.015 mg/L).
Suspended sediment: Water clarity was Good (0.87 m), relative to the national bottom line (0.61 m).
The results in the table below have been graded according to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM, 2020).
Sample Collection Day: 12th November 2025
2025 Quarterly Summaries
August 2025
Water quality was Excellent in Mangaorongo stream (Site 3).
E. coli concentrations were very low (120 cells per 100 mL), falling well within health guidelines for swimming (540 cells per 100 mL).
Nitrogen: Nitrate concentrations were very low (0.17 mg/L), falling well below the ecological toxicity threshold (2.4 mg/L). Ammonia concentrations were also very low (0.009 mg/L). Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was corresponding very low (0.18 mg/L), falling well below the ecological impact threshold (0.5 mg/L).
Phosphorus: Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) was very low (0.003 mg/L).
Suspended sediment/Water Clarity: Water clarity was Excellent (1.45 m), relative to the national bottom line (0.61 m).
The results in the table below have been graded according to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM, 2020).
Sample Collection Date: 25th August 2025
Awakino Tasman
Data & Downloads
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Aquatic Biodiversity Summary
Biodiversity monitoring includes eDNA, collected by KCRC, and traditional biodiversity monitoring techniques (netting of freshwater invertebrates and netting and electrofishing of freshwater fish), by Waikato Regional Council (WRC). eDNA sampling has been done by KCRC, in autumn and winter in 2021, 2022 and 2023. WRC monitors most sites every 1 to 2 years, between November and March. If more than one results is available for any single monitoring location the results for that site are averaged across years.
Awakino Tasman
Awakino & Tasman have outstanding ecological value!
A high number of insect species detected in eDNA in Awakino river, 64 species, an indicator for ecological health.
Good freshwater invertebrate MCI scores were seen at most monitoring sites.
Native freshwater mussels, a rare invertebrate species and filter feeder, were detected in Keritehere stream.
The fish community is diverse across most sites with numerous rare native species including all 5 species of whitebait (Shortjaw kōkopu, Giant kōkopu, Banded kōkopu, īnanga & kōaro).
Except for banded kōkopu, all species of whitebait are threatened with extinction and declining in number, nationally.
Numerous rare and threatened native fish species were detected including lamprey, redfin bully, longfin eel and torrent fish detected in catchment, another threatened species.
Only 1 species of introduced fish was detected, brown trout.
