Unlike many other regions in New Zealand, Marlborough has comparatively few large lakes and most of the region’s lakes do not have official names. The region has over 1,000 open waterbodies, but many are artificially created dams and reservoirs for irrigation and livestock drinking water.
Our natural lakes have unique ecological values and are important for sustaining the region’s ecology. Until recently, there has been no regular monitoring of Marlborough’s lakes, and information about their health has been limited. Understanding the state of the region’s lakes is essential for fulfilling Council’s environmental monitoring and management obligations.
Regular monitoring of our larger natural freshwater lakes began in 2022, and the first Lake Health State of the Environment Report was published in 2024.
Monitoring data for lakes that are monitored on a monthly basis is available on the LAWA website.
Go to LAWA website
