Hydrology - NWP

The National Waterways Project provides high quality water monitoring activities to schools for use in their local rivers, streams and lakes.

Is your stream sad, sick and sludgy or sparkling clean and full of life?

We would like to know - and we hope you do too. In fact, we have got plans to find out what state our streams are in - right throughout New Zealand - and we need your help! Are our waterways as clean and green as we like to think? If they are not - what action could you take to bring about some positive changes?

If you become a National Waterways Pollution Detective you will be able help.

What do I have to do to be a waterway detective?

The tests used for measuring stream health are very simple and fun, and they can tell you a lot about your stream. You can then complete an on-line data sheet with all your test results.

If your school would like to use the ‘Pollution Detective’ database, please sign-up by following the links below.

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For hydrology resources please check out the Resource section of this website. Extensive resources and information can be found on the archived NWP website.

Hydrology Photo

Photo: Nelson Mail Ltd.

Hydrology - GLOBE

What is the condition of Earth’s many surface waters – the streams, rivers, lakes, coastal waters? How do these conditions vary over the year? Are these conditions changing from year to year?

Through a hydrology investigation you can help address these questions by monitoring the waters near your school. In order to evaluate water changes, we need access to reliable information on current and past conditions. If changes are already taking place, comparing multiple sites at different areas can help us understand what is happening.

We do not just drink water; we are water. It is one of the most abundant and important substances on Earth. Water sustains plant and animal life, plays a key role in the formation of weather, helps to shape the surface of the planet through erosion and other processes, and approximately 70% of Earth’s surface is covered in water. Yet if we represent Earth’s water as 100 litres, 97 of them would be seawater; most of the remaining three would be ice; and only about 3mL out of the whole 100 litres would be fresh water that we can consume.

Measures of dissolved oxygen and pH directly indicate how hospitable a body of water is to aquatic life. It is interesting to both follow the annual cycle of various water parameters, such as dissolved oxygen and pH for example, and then to make comparisons between different water bodies. We can then ask questions such as: are dissolved oxygen levels lower during parts of the year? Does pH change after rain? What macroinvertebrates are present, and what does this indicate for the stream’s health?

Developing a database of water measurements will allow you to answer such questions. Students can use GLOBE to investigate their local waterway, and then compare their findings with streams around the world. We then encourage students to explore ways of improving the health of their waterway and to undertake an action project to see if they can make a difference.

For more information on GLOBE hydrology protocols, please visit the teacher’s guide at the GLOBE website here... Making sure that your equipment is calibrated is also important to ensure the accuracy of your measurements.

Project Ideas

For ideas on hydrology projects, check out the 37 ideas listed for CREST and Science and Technology Fairs that are available online on the CREST website.

GLOBE PowerPoint Presentations and Data Sheets

These are the PowerPoint (PPT) presentations that have been used in GLOBE workshops. They are useful for helping you to understand the various hydrology protocols.

To view further PowerPoint presentations on advanced protocols click here... Further hydrology resources can be found in the Resource section of this website.