Treated sewage from Hamilton is discharged into the Waikato River near Hamilton, and much further down, Auckland City is taking water, writes Sam Judd.

An investigation into a Shotover Jet crash which left two people hospitalised has found the crash was down to driver error.

Watercare is pumping water from tankers into water pipes for almost 600 elderly people in two retirement villages and a hospital affected by a general water outage in the Albany area.

Albany businesses forced to close yesterday because of burst water mains seem unlikely to get any compensation for their losses.

The Tasman District Council has given its consent for the proposed Waimea Community Dam, says Irrigation NZ.

A massive pipi bed in Whangarei harbour is dying and there are fears the change could destabilise the harbour - and Marsden Point itself, Radio NZ reports.

There were emotional scenes on the East Coast north of Gisborne yesterday afternoon as divers located and recovered missing Malaysian man Kuan Loon Loh.

Swimmers are being told to steer clear of the water at popular beaches on the North Shore after water quality tests returned poor results.

A young English tourist is being praised for trying to save a Malaysian man who is believed drowned after jumping off the Tolaga Bay wharf on the East Coast.

An English tourist jumped in the water to try and save a man who jumped off the wharf at Tolaga Bay - but he was swept away by a wave.

A group of young adventurers are taking to the water in some unusual kayaks in a bid to battle plastic pollution.

Search teams have been deployed into Eastern Fiordland as the search continues for a missing German tourist.

Auckland's Ngati Whatua tribe is closing Okahu Bay beach tomorrow for a tribal event - the first time since it won co-management of the beach in 1991.

A search is under way for a missing German woman in the Manapouri Hope Arm area in Southland.

"I'd say she'd probably only had maximum probably another minute, minute-and-a-half if she hadn't got out," said an officer who helped woman from car.

Two police officers who dragged a 63-year-old woman from her sinking car at an Auckland wharf believe she was about a minute away from drowning.

Drought throughout much of the South Island and dry conditions in parts of the North look set to add urgency to water storage and irrigation schemes.

Twenty-six crew members on board an Australian-flagged fishing boat are trapped by ice in Antarctica, sparking a rescue bid by a New Zealand fishing vessel.

It was the cartoon frog that caught my eye. It was smiling - beaming, even - and the lines above the eyes highlighted the fact that this was one happy little amphibian.