{"id":341461,"date":"2026-03-22T00:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T00:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/341461\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T00:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T00:24:12","slug":"toxic-algae-warnings-issued-for-hutt-and-wairarapa-rivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/341461\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxic algae warnings issued for Hutt and Wairarapa rivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Madleine CarrWhite, Massey Journalism Student<\/p>\n

\"High<\/p>\n

\nFile photo.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Greater Wellington Regional Council\n<\/p>\n

Toxic algae warnings have been issued for Hutt and Wairarapa rivers.<\/p>\n

Red alerts are in place for Hutt River at Silverstream, Waipoua River at Colombo Road, and Ruamahanga River at Double Bridges and Te Ore Ore.<\/p>\n

Greater Wellington Regional Council advised people not to swim or let their dogs near the water.<\/p>\n

The algae is a neurotoxin that acts like snake venom and is extremely harmful to humans and lethal for dogs if ingested.<\/p>\n

“Toxic algae lives on the riverbed, where it’s usually out of reach,” Greater Wellington senior advisor integration and insights, Penny Fairbrother said.<\/p>\n

“But during a flare-up like this, thanks to warm weather and a lack of rain, the algae lifts off the rocks and accumulates at the river’s edge, where it poses the biggest risk – especially to dogs who seem to love the smell and will try to eat it if given the chance.<\/p>\n

“Even a small amount of toxic algae, the size of a 50-cent piece, can be enough to kill a dog.”<\/p>\n

People should check the LAWA website<\/a> for toxic algae warnings and alerts before visiting rivers in the Wellington region.<\/p>\n

People who were feeling unwell after being in contact with algae were asked to see a doctor or contact Healthline on 0800 611 116.<\/p>\n

Anyone who suspected their dog had swallowed toxic algae should visit the nearest vet immediately.<\/p>\n

Greater Wellington was monitoring popular swimming spots weekly. It asked people to check the LAWA website for warnings and alerts before visiting rivers in the Wellington region.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Madleine CarrWhite, Massey Journalism Student File photo. Photo: Supplied \/ Greater Wellington Regional Council Toxic algae warnings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-341461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341461","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=341461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}