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.

A desperate plea by 15 bystanders for passing jetboats to rescue a 30-year-old struggling in the chilly waters of the Hokitika Gorge were ignored by the boaties.

A 70-year-old Auckland man participating in a sailing regatta north of Wellington was wearing a lifejacket that wasn’t inflated when he died.

Mission Bay Reserve is one of Auckland's most popular summer evening spots. So why are the men's loos allowed to get so filthy?

A state-of-the-art $2.5 million vessel is set to make a marked difference in the way water rescues are carried out.

At the moment, there is more water leaving the water treatment plants than there is entering the wastewater treatment plants, because of the dry spell, writes Phoebe Falconer.

Taps ran dry in Martinborough last Friday after water reservoirs ran out and an alarm supposed to alert the council when supply is low, failed to go off.

Summer is hitting full force, with temperatures rising above 27C north of Auckland and farmers bracing for drought.

Caughey, one of the more anonymous Kiwi winners of a world title in 2014, claimed the world jetsprint championship after the series concluded in Oregon in September.

Family tells how their holiday sightseeing trip turned into rescue operation after spotting stricken men in the water: "You just think about trying to find the next person."

A former South Auckland man has described watching his friend escape from the jaws of a great white shark while surfing in California.

An Auckland police constable stripped off his police uniform and dove into the sea to apprehend a man making off in a stolen row boat yesterday.

Partygoers will be swapping their sunglasses and sunblock for umbrellas and rain jackets to see in the New Year as the brilliant weather that has brightened the holidays looks set to pass.

Fast water on Amsterdam's Bosbaan helped the women's four beat the eight-year-old world-best time by more than 10 seconds in 6:14.36 at the world championships.

Police have named three people who have died in water-related accidents so far this holiday season.

Family members of a missing teenager were keeping an emotional vigil on a Northland beach last night - the latest incident in a horror start to the holiday season in the water.

They had sailed from New Zealand in 2002 and were two years into their adventure when they moored in a bay off Phuket in Thailand for Christmas.

Two launches collided in Whangarei Harbour last night, leaving them both significantly damaged.