World River water quality Data - Page 2

NZ regional council freshwater nutrient and biomass measurements 2012-2020.

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Used to derive nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and exceedance criteria for managing periphyton in fresh water.

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Creative Commons 4.0 International by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand

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Variables:

• Site (the number of the data point itself)
• RC (Regional Council that collected the measurement)
• RCSiteID (the identifier used by that specific council)
• SiteName (the Site where the measurement was collected)
• DateChla (date the chlorophyll-a measurement was collected)
• Year (Year of collection)
• Month (Month of collection)
• Chla ( mg chlorophyll-a per square meter)
• NOxppb (Nitrous oxide parts per billion)
• NH4ppb (Ammonia parts per billion)
• DRPppb (Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus parts per billion)
• TNppb (Total Nitrogen parts per billion)
• TPppb (Total Phosphorus parts per billion)
• DINppb (Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen parts per billion)
• EC (Electrical Conductivity)
• pH (acidity/basicness of the water at the sample location)
• Temp (water temperature in degrees Celsius at time of measurement)
• Turbidity (turbidity of the water at time of measurement)
• Clarity_m (water clarity, in metres, at the time of measurement)

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N/A values in the data set refer to an absence of measurement for that specific variable.

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Report:

environment.govt.nz/publications/derivation-of-nut...

Snelder T, Kilroy C, Booker D (2021) Derivation of Nutrient Criteria for Periphyton Biomass Objectives. Using regional council monitoring data. LWP and NIWA Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand

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For subject matter questions please contact freshwater@me.govt.nz.

"Macroinvertebrates are small animals without backbones that live on and under submerged logs, rocks, and aquatic plants in the stream bed during some period of their life cycle. They play a central role in stream ecosystems by feeding on periphyton (algae or slime), macrophytes (aquatic plants), dead leaves and wood, or on each other. High Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) scores generally indicate better stream health. Macroinvertebrates are good continuous indicators of the health of their stream environment. This is because they are relatively sedentary and long–lived (a year or more) which means they live with any stresses or changes that occur in their location (eg, pollution, habitat removal, floods and droughts). They complement discrete measures like chemical monitoring, which only reflects the condition at the exact time and place of sampling. Such monitoring might miss effects of a short–lived pollutant or an unanticipated type of disturbance.
This dataset relates to the ""River water quality: benthic macroinvertebrates"" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website. "

River water quality is valued for many reasons including ecological function and habitat, recreational value, its role in supporting people and industry, and its cultural significance. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant growth, however too much in rivers can lead to excessive growth of river algae, which can degrade habitat.

High concentrations of nitrogen in the form of ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to fish and other aquatic animals, and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to humans. Water clarity is a measure of underwater visibility, and affects habitat of aquatic life such as fish and birds, and can also impact on aesthetic values and recreational use of rivers and streams. Escherichia coli (E.coli) can indicate the presence of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) from animal or human faeces, which can cause illness.

File contains the model outputs for river water quality indicators as medians for each river segment in New Zealand’s digital river network.

23 April 2021: A new version of this data set has been published. It includes data on 4 parameters (Ammoniacal nitrogen (adjusted), Escherichia coli, Macroinvertebrate Community Index and Total Phosphorus) that had been missing from the file that was published as part of the Our freshwater 2020 release in April 16 2020. The updated data set also includes data on DRP for all 593,337 REC segments, since the file from April 16 2020 only had data for 255,860 of these segments.

16 April 2020: Subsequent to publication in April 2019 we discovered two small errors with this dataset. These included:

• Errors in the coordinates of some sites and their associated metadata (such as landcover and elevation).
• Errors in our calculation of dominant landcover.

In addition, flow data from TopNet has also been updated.

These changes have a minor impact on overall results. These changes have have been corrected, and are republished here, as part of the Our freshwater 2020 release.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

1) The main (cleaned) dataset is structured by each row having a nzsegment and np_id combination. A large dataset (~ 1 GB) has resulted, due to the inclusion of the ANZG/NOF columns and the 10 different np_id values. There are ~ 6 million rows to this dataset, however a 32-bit version of Microsoft Excel will only display/download ~ 1 million rows. __A DBMS, statistical or GIS application is needed to view the entire dataset__.

2) A smaller raw dataset (see attachments) is provided which structures each row relating to a river segment and drops the ANZG/NOF columns.

3) The attached metadata/date quality report provides further information on the NOF, ANZG and the "McDowell meet/doesnt meet" attachment.

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This dataset contains ten parameters of water quality based on measurements made at monitored river sites:

• Nitrate-nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen (adjusted)
• Total nitrogen
• Total phosphorus
• Dissolved reactive phosphorus
• Water clarity
• Turbidity
• Escherichia coli
• Macroinvertebrate community index These parameters are used to measure:
• Modelled median values for all of New Zealand’s river length for the period 2013 to 2017
• For selected indicators, how the modelled values compare to the National Objectives Framework (NOF) (MfE, 2017) bands related to ecosystem health and human health for recreation, and to expected concentrations in natural conditions, as shown by the default guideline values in the Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality (ANZG, 2018)

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/spatial-m...

River water quality water is valued for many reasons including ecological function and habitat, recreational value, its role in supporting people and industry, and its cultural significance. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant growth, however too much in rivers can lead to ‘nuisance’ growths of river algae and aquatic plants, degrading habitat. High concentrations in the form of ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to fish and other aquatic animals. Water clarity is a measure of underwater visibility, and affects habitat of aquatic life such as fish and birds, and can also impact on aesthetic values and recreational use of rivers and streams. Escherichia coli bacteria can indicate the presence of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) from animal or human faeces, which can cause illness.
State (percentile) results for the following parameters, by monitored site for the period 2009–2013, are provided. Refer to Larned at al (2015) for further details.

 Clarity (CLAR), m
 Ammoniacal nitrogen (NH4N), mg/m3
 Nitrate nitrogen (NO3N), mg/m3
 Total nitrogen (unfiltered) (TN), mg/m3
 Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), mg/m3
 Total phosphorus (unfiltered) (TP), mg/m3
 Escherichia coli (ECOLI), n/100 mL

For more information please see:
Larned, S, Snelder, T, Unwin, M, McBride, G, Verburg, P, McMillan, H (2015).Analysis of Water Quality in New Zealand lakes and Rivers: data sources, data sets, assumptions, limitations, methods and results. NIWA Client Report no. CHC2015-033
Available at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/s9WT2y from the Ministry for the Environment dataservice.

This dataset relates to the "River water quality" measures on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

River water quality water is valued for many reasons including ecological function and habitat, recreational value, its role in supporting people and industry, and its cultural significance. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant growth, however too much in rivers can lead to ‘nuisance’ growths of river algae and aquatic plants, degrading habitat. High concentrations in the form of ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to fish and other aquatic animals. Water clarity is a measure of underwater visibility, and affects habitat of aquatic life such as fish and birds, and can also impact on aesthetic values and recreational use of rivers and streams.

Trend statistics and calculation results for the periods 1989-2013, 1994-2013, and 2004-2013 are provided by monitored site. Units for parameters are mg/m3, except CLAR (m). Refer to Larned at al. 2015 for further details.

For more information please see:
Larned, S, Snelder, T, Unwin, M, McBride, G, Verburg, P, McMillan, H (2015).Analysis of Water Quality in New Zealand lakes and Rivers: data sources, data sets, assumptions, limitations, methods and results. NIWA Client Report no. CHC2015-033. Available at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/DDui3u from the Ministry for the Environment dataservice.

This dataset relates to the "River water quality" measures on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

16 April 2020: Subsequent to publication in April 2019 we discovered two small errors with this dataset. These included:

• Errors in the coordinates of some sites and their associated metadata (such as landcover and elevation).
• Errors in our calculation of dominant landcover.

In addition, flow data from TopNet has also been updated.

These changes have a minor impact on overall results. These changes have have been corrected, and are republished here, as part of the Our freshwater 2020 release.

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This dataset measures how water quality in New Zealand’s rivers is changing over time. It contains nine parameters of water quality based on measurements made at monitored river sites in years 1990-2017:

• Nitrate-nitrogen
• Ammoniacal nitrogen
• Total nitrogen
• Total phosphorus
• Dissolved reactive phosphorus
• Water clarity
• Turbidity
• Escherichia coli
• Macroinvertebrate community index

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/water-qua....

Heavy metals in river waters are an indicator of river water quality. We monitor a subset of rivers and streams in predominantly urban areas in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and look at how these values are changing over time. This indicator shows:

• concentrations of dissolved copper and zinc measured at monitoring sites for the three-year period from 2015 to 2017
• how these compare to the default guideline values for the protection of 95 percent of species in the Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality (ANZG, 2018)

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/urban-riv....

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Heavy metals in river waters are an indicator of river water quality. We monitor a subset of rivers and streams in predominantly urban areas in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and look at how these values are changing over time. This indicator shows:

• trends in concentrations based on measurements made at monitoring sites during the seven-year period from 2011 to 2017

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/urban-riv....

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

River water quality water is valued for many reasons including ecological function and habitat, recreational value, its role in supporting people and industry, and its cultural significance. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for plant growth, however too much can lead to ‘nuisance’ growths of river algae and aquatic plants, degrading habitat. High concentrations in the form of ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to fish and other aquatic animals. Water clarity is a measure of underwater visibility, and affects habitat of aquatic life such as fish and birds, and can also impact on aesthetic values and recreational use of rivers and streams. Escherichia coli (E.coli) can indicate the presence of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) from animal or human faeces, which can cause illness.

File contains raw data collected at NIWA monitored sites of the National River Water Quality Network (NRWQN) over the period 1989-2013. The NRWQN network is used to calculate national trends in river water quality. Fields are described as follows. Refer to Larned et al. 2015 for further details:
sID ---- Unique site ID
srcid ---- Region site is located in
sflag ---- River (r) or Estuary (e)
river ---- River name
location ---- Name of site
nzmge ---- easting
nzmgn ---- northing
NZReach ---- REC1 segment identifier
sDate ---- sample date
Q ---- Recorded flow when sample was taken, cumecs
npid ---- NIWA parameter ID (as used in Larned et al. 2015)
values ---- Parameter value (units are mg/m3, except CLAR (m) and ECOLI (n/100 mL))

For more information please see:
Larned, S, Snelder, T, Unwin, M, McBride, G, Verburg, P, McMillan, H (2015).Analysis of Water Quality in New Zealand lakes and Rivers: data sources, data sets, assumptions, limitations, methods and results. NIWA Client Report no. CHC2015-033. Available at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/DDui3u from the Ministry for the Environment dataservice.

This dataset relates to the "River water quality" measures on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.