Freshwater Data

Flow is the volume of water passing a point over a certain time, and provides information about the availability of water for people and the environment. Overall, this affects how much water is available for irrigation, drinking water, hydroelectricity generation, and recreational activities. River flows also influence a waterway’s physical form, habitat, and ecological processes like migration, spawning, and food supply for aquatic life.

The file provides the estimated impact of upstream consents on the modelled median flow of a particular reach in the digital river network. This is calculated by upstream total consented takes by median flow.

Hydroelectricity is a renewable source of electricity. It makes an important contribution to New Zealand’s energy supply and economy.

This dataset relates to the "Contribution of hydroelectricity to total electricity generation" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Water is an important source of energy that contributes to New Zealand’s energy supply and the economy. As the main source of renewable energy in New Zealand, the use of water supports the production of the electricity industry. Tracking the value of this water as a natural resource – along with land form, slope, and elevation, which all help to generate hydroelectricity – shows the economic benefits derived from water use for current and future generations. Changes in flow regimes and climate can affect these values.

We report on the value of water resources used to generate hydroelectricity. This value includes both the returns received from current use (resource rent), and expected benefits from future use (the asset value).

Groundwater is the water stored beneath Earth’s surface in aquifers (layers of water-bearing rock or sand). It is used for human and stock drinking water, irrigation, and industry, and also has a role in sustaining some rivers, lakes, and wetlands, especially during low-flow periods. The health of surface-water ecosystems also depends on groundwater.

Estimated average groundwater volumes by 16 regional councils
* region = Regional Council
* bil_cubicm = Average estimated groundwater volume in billion cubic metres

For more information please see:
Moreau M, & Bekele, M (2015). Groundwater Component of the Water Physical Stock Account (WPSA) GNS Science Consultancy Report 2014/290. 35p. Available at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/Tebsax from the Ministry for the Environment dataservice.

This dataset relates to the "Groundwater physical stocks" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Groundwater is the water stored beneath Earth’s surface in aquifers (layers of water-bearing rock or sand). It is used for human and stock drinking water, irrigation, and industry, and also has a role in sustaining some rivers, lakes, and wetlands, especially during low-flow periods. The health of surface-water ecosystems also depends on groundwater.

Estimated national groundwater volumes by year and aquifer type (confined, or unconfined)
aquifer_ty = aquifer type
cubicm = estimated groundwater volume in cubic metres (m3)

This dataset relates to the "Groundwater physical stocks" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

New Zealand has a diverse range of freshwater species. Many of these species are endemic to (only occur in, or only breed in) New Zealand. Freshwater fish and invertebrates are indicator species for the state of our freshwater environment. A decreasing population can indicate that the ecosystem is degrading.

This measure reports on the conservation status of New Zealand's indigenous freshwater fish and invertebrate species, including the number of species that have had a genuine change in conservation status between two monitoring periods (2009–13 and 2005–13). A change in a species’ conservation status reflects a change in its risk of extinction.

Cultural Health Index scores for a waterway is a combination measure of historical cultural use and access, mahinga kai assessment, and water quality assessment from a cultural perspective of a site on a waterway.

The Cultural Health Index scores compile this information into a classification system to provide an overall grading of the state of a site and how the state of a site on a waterway affects the mauri, the ability for tangata whenua to feed the hapu and iwi and the overall water quality for the site. These are all important indicators of the cultural health of a waterway, and are also a consideration for other cultural and recreational activities like karakia, cleansing, swimming and wading.

Wetlands support unique biodiversity and provide important services. They clean water of excess nutrients and sediment, help absorb floodwaters, and act as carbon sinks (remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere). They also have cultural importance for Māori, and provide valuable food and materials (eg flax). Draining wetlands for agricultural and urban development over the past 150 years has significantly reduced their extent, leading to a loss of biodiversity and natural function. This dataset contains estimates of the extent of wetlands in pre-human and contemporary times by regional council area, and nationally.

This dataset relates to the "Wetland extent" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Wetlands support unique biodiversity and provide important services. They clean water of excess nutrients and sediment, help absorb floodwaters, and act as carbon sinks (remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere). They also have cultural importance for Māori, and provide valuable food and materials (eg flax). Draining wetlands for agricultural and urban development over the past 150 years has significantly reduced their extent, leading to a loss of biodiversity and natural function. This dataset contains estimates of the national extent of the different types of wetlands in contempary and pre-human times.

This dataset relates to the "Wetland extent" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Fresh water in New Zealand is highly valued for recreational activities, including fishing. Freshwater angling (primarily for introduced ‘sports fish’ such as brown trout, rainbow trout, and chinook salmon) is a popular leisure activity. Fish licences issued by Fish & Game New Zealand provide an indication of recreational fishing activity at freshwater locations around the country.

This dataset relates to the "Participation in recreational fishing" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.