In this paper we describe discharge characteristics between needle-to-plane electrodes in water in various conditions such as different impulse voltages, polarities and water resistivities. Streamer corona is initiated at the tip of needle electrode and propagates toward plane electrode, and it experiences the final jump across the test gap. The branched channels of streamer coronas for lower water resistivities are much thicker and brighter than those for higher water resistivities at the same level of applied voltage. The negative streamer coronas not only have more branches but also widely spread out compared to the positive streamer coronas. A number of pulse-like currents ranging from some hundreds mA to a few A after streamer corona onset were produced with discharge developments. The time-lags-to breakdown for the positive polarity were remarkably shorter than those for the negative polarity. The pre-breakdown energy supplied into the test gap was inversely proportional to water resistivity.