River Check
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Transparency
River Check combines provider data with its own fishing-planning interpretation. These four points explain what you are seeing; the provider cards below give the exact attribution and source-specific limitations.
1 Provider data
Councils and other hydrology providers supply flow, stage and selected water-temperature observations. MET Norway provides local forecasts, MetService provides official watches and warnings, and LINZ and OpenStreetMap provide map data.
2 River Check
Condition labels, thresholds, trends, rankings, alerts and planning summaries are River Check calculations and editorial judgements—not provider measurements or endorsements.
3 Water temperature
Values stay hidden below 18°C. A warm-water caution appears from 18°C and a trout-stress warning from 20°C. Readings older than two hours are ignored, and each flag applies only at the named gauge.
Department of Conservation guidance4 Practical limits
Data can be provisional, revised, delayed or unavailable. River Check is not a flood-warning, navigation or personal-safety service. Check river conditions, access and current fishing regulations yourself.
Fish & Game regulationsRiver monitoring
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: This work uses data sourced from Environment Canterbury.
Limitations: Observations may be provisional, revised, delayed or unavailable. Environment Canterbury does not guarantee that content is accurate, complete or fit for a particular purpose.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: River flow data sourced from Otago Regional Council.
Limitations: Portal data may be provisional and may not have completed Otago Regional Council quality assurance. The portal gives no warranty of accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose, and includes observations attributed to other organisations.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: River flow data © Environment Southland. Source: www.es.govt.nz.
Limitations: Observations may be provisional, revised, delayed, incomplete or unavailable. Environment Southland does not guarantee accuracy, completeness or uninterrupted access and excludes responsibility for actions taken in reliance on the information.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: River flow data sourced from West Coast Regional Council.
Limitations: Displayed readings are not necessarily real-time and may be provisional, revised, delayed or unavailable. Some gauges are identified as belonging to Manawa Energy or Earth Sciences New Zealand/NIWA and may carry separate terms.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: River flow data © Tasman District Council, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Limitations: Live readings are raw and may be incorrect or retrospectively edited. Availability is not guaranteed, and the Council may block access, particularly if server load becomes an issue.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: River flow data © Waikato Regional Council, licensed under CC BY 4.0 and used with written permission.
Limitations: Environmental data may contain inaccuracies, be incomplete, change after publication, or be delayed or unavailable. Waikato Regional Council provides it as a guide only without warranties of accuracy, completeness, currency, suitability or reliability; users should independently verify it before relying on it. Access may be restricted or interrupted, and third-party data may carry separate ownership and terms.
Tongariro Power Scheme river-flow observations
Attribution: Tongariro River current-flow data sourced from Genesis.
Limitations: Genesis provides the hydrology data for general information rather than as a forecasting or safety service. It is updated about every 15 minutes, and river flows can change quickly because of rainfall and hydro-power operations.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: Science data sourced from Hawke's Bay Regional Council. River Check is operated by Cadence Fly Fishing NZ Limited.
Limitations: The most recent data is a real-time feed that may not have been assessed for quality or completeness. Instruments and communications can produce incorrect readings; HBRC may change the data or its presentation, and third-party data can carry separate terms.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: Assessment data sourced from Horizons Regional Council.
Limitations: Real-time and predicted observations are provisional, unreviewed and may change significantly before they are archived. Availability, polling limits and ownership of third-party stations are not yet confirmed for River Check.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: Assessment data sourced from Taranaki Regional Council.
Limitations: Environmental data is provisional, may not have been audited and may be amended without notice. Timestamps are published in NZ Standard Time, and the Council does not guarantee accuracy or fitness for purpose.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: Assessment data sourced from Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Limitations: Hydrometric readings can be delayed, transformed or affected by known site and rating-curve constraints. The network can also contain observations from external or privately operated gauges.
River flow and monitoring-station observations
Attribution: River flow data © Marlborough District Council, used under the Council's stated Creative Commons 4.0 terms.
Limitations: MDC may revise flow records as verification measurements are made, including records up to ten years old, so River Check's stored history can differ from the current Council record. Security changes may also cause temporary blocking or require IP allow-listing.
Supporting data
Locationforecast weather forecast
Attribution: Weather data from MET Norway, transformed and presented by River Check.
Limitations: Forecasts are model output and may change. Delivery is not guaranteed.
Official New Zealand severe-weather watches and warnings
Attribution: Warning information © Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Limitations: Watches and warnings can be updated, replaced or cancelled. River Check passes on information from the official MetService CAP feed; check MetService directly before making weather-sensitive or safety decisions.
NZ Topo50 maps and aerial imagery on the main interactive map
Attribution: Map data and imagery © LINZ, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Limitations: Map features and imagery do not establish legal public access.
Map data
Attribution: Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Limitations: Map features do not establish legal public access.