Land Air Water Aotearoa website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\u201cHeavy rain can further compromise water safety by washing contaminants from urban and rural land into waterways,\u201d the regional council said. <\/p>\n
Avoiding swimming for two to three days after prolonged or heavy rain, even at sites that are usually safe, is advised. <\/p>\n
The regional council said the colour of water, or the presence of any algal bloom, should not be considered the marker of a clean lake.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all cyanobacteria produce harmful toxins, so a green lake or algal bloom doesn\u2019t automatically mean danger. <\/p>\n
![\"New]()
New signs warn lake users about the risk of toxic algal blooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, if you see signs of a bloom and there\u2019s no warning, it\u2019s best to play it safe, especially if you have allergies or are immune-compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
The regional council was working alongside Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Rotorua Lakes Council to help improve the area\u2019s lakes by promoting sustainable land use, reducing nutrients entering waterways, and protecting native plants and animals.<\/p>\n
Other lake users were also being reminded to take care this summer. <\/p>\n
Harbourmaster patrols began in October, focusing on lifejackets, safe speeds and the \u201cthree to ski\u201d rule for towing. <\/p>\n
Kayakers, stand-up paddleboarders, and users of waka or dinghies are encouraged to carry at least two forms of communication, to check conditions before heading out and to let someone know their plans. Not wearing a lifejacket can result in a $200 fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur lakes are beautiful and provide amazing summer recreation, but they can also be unpredictable,\u201d the regional council said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA little preparation goes a long way to keeping yourself and your family safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two were in the Central Bay, three in the Eastern Bay and two in the Western Bay. Four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1561,8908,5205,111,43,139,69,1118,1562,1327,6302,14625,87540,61,3552,376],"class_list":["post-201707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-bay","tag-check","tag-council","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-plenty","tag-rotorua","tag-safety","tag-summer","tag-swimmers","tag-to","tag-urges","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}