Australia was battling weather extremes yesterday with South Australia hit by its first tropical storm for 15 years, just as the state's north faced a catastrophic bushfire risk.

Kiwis are being encouraged to become citizen scientists to check the health of their own lakes, rivers and streams.

NZ rivers and swimming spots will increasingly be polluted by algae and contain fewer fish as the dairy boom continues, an environmental watchdog has warned.

A pair of US tourists had to be rescued by a police search and rescue team after becoming stranded on the banks of the Haast River yesterday afternoon.

British news website Daily Mail Online says New Zealand's claims to be clean and green are "pure manure".

A woman was lucky to get cellphone reception and call for help after her car became trapped in a Hawkes Bay river yesterday morning.

The RMA exists to help work out the right conditions, as well as manage effects, which under O'Reilly's approach would not occur, writes Claire Browning.

Up close, after it has travelled more than 300km, the Waikato River is so muddy that you cannot see your feet if you are standing just knee-deep beside its banks.

The melodic Irish brogue is the soundtrack to Geraldine O'Sullivan Beere's visit to Avoca County, Ireland.

Editorial: Two recent events ought to have injected some urgency into the quest for cleaner, fairer and better use of New Zealand's most valuable resource, water.

The drought is a timely reminder of how much the New Zealand economy depends on rainfall, writes Brian Fallow.

Tamati Patuwai (Ngati Whatua) tells Elisabeth Easther what he loves about living in Glen Innes, and how much the area has changed since he was a boy

History has once again proven tough to dislodge when it comes to the perception of the country's waterways, writes Paul Moon.

It is appalling that so many of our rivers are not clean enough for swimming.The reason is obvious. This is a farming country.

More than half of monitored recreational sites on our rivers are unsafe for swimming, a report has revealed.

The Maori King and the Prime Minister drew the battle lines, with the former saying "Maori'' and the latter saying "No One''. Today, two legal academics explore the deep currents that lie beneath each claim.