Data

11 June 2021: A revised version of this dataset has been published to correct the terminology used to compare nitrate-nitrogen values to the 3 g/m3 guideline value. The field name has been changed from “reference_condition” to “n_n_guideline”, and values in this field will now be either “Does not exceed” or “Exceeds”, instead of “Meets” or “Does not meet”.

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20 July 2020: We corrected the data about drinking water standards for E. coli and nitrate-nitrogen in the key findings for groundwater quality.

For the five-year period 2014‒2018:

• 68 percent of 364 sites failed to meet the E.coli drinking water standards (changed from 98 percent of 145 sites failed to meet the E. coli drinking water standards)
• 19 percent of 433 sites didn’t meet nitrate-nitrogen standards (changed from 28 percent of 403 sites failed to meet the nitrate-nitrogen drinking water standards).

This indicator measures groundwater quality in New Zealand’s aquifers and how it is changing over time, based on measurements made at monitored sites. We report on nitrate-nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, dissolved reactive phosphorus, chloride, conductivity and Escherichia coli (E. coli) including:

• median values for the period 2014–18
• nitrate-nitrogen median values compared to a guideline value of 3 grams per cubic metre (g/m3). This value is defined as a concentration that indicates groundwater has been influenced by industrialised agriculture and is highly likely to have been impacted by human activity (per Morgenstern & Daughney, 2012 and Daughney & Reeves, 2005).
• the proportion of samples from each site that have concentrations of nitrate-nitrogen or E. coli in excess of the Maximum Acceptable Values for protection of human health (Ministry of Health, 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.

11 June 2021: A revised version of this dataset has been published to correct the terminology used to compare nitrate-nitrogen values to the 3 g/m3 guideline value. The field name has been changed from “ref_meet” to “n_n_guideline”, and values in this field will now be either “Does not exceed” or “Exceeds”, instead of “Meets” or “Does not meet”.

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This dataset measures groundwater quality in New Zealand’s aquifers based on measurements made at monitored sites. Many factors influence the quality of our groundwater. Nitrogen, which occurs naturally in groundwater, can increase in concentrations due to agricultural and urban land use, and infrastructure such as waste treatment plants. High concentrations of nitrate-nitrogen in groundwater can affect human health and the quality of surrounding rivers and lakes that receive inflows from groundwater. Ammoniacal nitrogen can cause an undesirable smell that may make groundwater unsuitable for drinking water. Natural processes in groundwater can convert nitrate-nitrogen into ammoniacal nitrogen or other forms under some chemical conditions. Surplus phosphorus drains (leaches) into groundwater as dissolved reactive phosphorus. Too much nitrate-nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, and phosphorus can lead to excessive plant and algae growth where groundwater flows into surface water. E. coli in groundwater is measured in colony forming units (cfu) and can indicate the presence of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) from animal or human faeces. The pathogens can cause illness for anyone who ingests them.

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.

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...

This layer is the total rainfall for the year 2016, summed from interpolated daily rainfall, in mm, not the average.

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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.

This layer is the total rainfall for the year 2016, summed from interpolated daily rainfall, in mm, not the average.

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.

This layer is the total rainfall for the year 2016, summed from interpolated daily rainfall, in mm, not the average.

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.

DATA SOURCE: Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research

[Technical report available at environment.govt.nz/publications/land-fragmentatio...]

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Land fragmentation" indicator [available at www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/land-fragmentation]

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This indicator measures changes in total highly productive land (HPL) area and the distribution of this land area across different land parcel size classes, since 2002, with a particular interest in the fragmentation or subdivision of these land parcels. We define HPL by land use capability (LUC), and includes classes 1, 2, and 3 (land highly suitable for growing a range of crops). We assess this fragmentation against two potential impacts: land that cannot be used or is restricted from use as farmland because of its new residential or urban land use (‘land restricted from use as farmland’) and that which may still be able to be used for growing/production (‘land potentially available for use as farmland’).

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. The technical report for this dataset is available at environment.govt.nz/publications/land-fragmentatio...

DATA SOURCE: Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research; regional and district councils

[Technical report available at environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-data... and environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-and-...]

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Soil quality and land use" indicator [available at www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/soil-quality-and-land...]

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We report on seven soil properties from 1996 to 2018: pH (a measure of acidity), Olsen phosphorus (a measure of fertility), total carbon, total nitrogen, and anaerobically mineralisable nitrogen (measures of organic reserves), and macroporosity and bulk density (measures of physical status). These are assessed across nine land uses. We report the proportion of sites above, below, and within soil quality target ranges for each of the seven soil quality indicators by land use, as well as by soil order.

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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. Technical report links for this dataset are environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-data... and environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-and-...

DATA SOURCE: Department of Conservation (DOC)

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Extinction threat to indigenous land species" indicator [available at www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extinction-threat-to-...]

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We report on the extinction threat to indigenous, resident, living land species that have been assessed by expert panels under the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). They include bats, frogs, reptiles, terrestrial invertebrates, vascular plants, non-vascular plants (mosses, hornworts, and liverworts), lichens and terrestrial birds (which exclude seabirds and shorebirds, which are reported under extinction threat of indigenous marine species).

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.

DATA SOURCE: Aqualinc Research Limited

[Technical report available at environment.govt.nz/publications/national-irrigate...]

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

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The spatial data covers all mainland regions of New Zealand, with the exception of Nelson, which is not believed to contain significant irrigated areas. The spatial dataset is an update of the national dataset that was first created in 2017. The current update has incorporated data from the 2019 – 2020 irrigation season.

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.

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