Owhiro Bay - recent sampling results
The sampling results published on 9 March indicated a spike in results on 1 March of 23,000cfu/100ml.
While this spike understandably caused concern in the community, we think some more context will help to address this. These figures are not uncommon across the Wellington region and across New Zealand after rain. Rain will wash pollutants into the stormwater system and will stir up pollutants that accumulate in the stormwater system over the very dry summer. This is why our advice is always to avoid swimming at our beaches following 48 hours of heavy rain.
We will be discussing these results and related matters at the Community Board meeting on Monday 16 March.
We are really grateful to the community for their interest in this work, and we’ll be providing more context for this and the test results in the future on our website: wellingtonwater.co.nz/owhiro-bay
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.7% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.7% Critical thinking
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29.8% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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