Lake water quality state 2013–2017

Lake water quality state 2013-2017

New Zealand's Environment Reporting Series: The Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand

This dataset contains ten lake water quality variables based on measurements made at monitored lake sites: chlorophyll-a, nitrate-nitrogen, total nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, dissolved reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus, Escherichia coli, water clarity, and lake trophic level index (TLI3 and TLI4). This dataset includes:

- Median values for the period 2013 to 2017
- For selected indicators, how these values compare to the National Objectives Framework (NOF) (MfE, 2017) bands related to ecosystem health

When nitrogen and phosphorus accumulate above certain concentrations in lakes (referred to as ‘nutrient enrichment’), they can stimulate excessive growth of algae and cyanobacteria. Chlorophyll-a is a measure of the phytoplankton (algae) biomass. The lake trophic level index (TLI) indicates the health of a lake based on concentrations of three variables:
·         total nitrogen
·         total phosphorus
·         chlorophyll-a.

Water clarity is a measure of underwater visibility. Lakes with poor clarity and TLI are poor habitats for some species of animals and plants, and they may not be suitable for recreation. Ammoniacal nitrogen can be toxic to aquatic life if concentrations are high enough.

Regional councils, NIWA

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 New Zealand

Attribution 4.0 International

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

New Zealand

https://data.mfe.govt.nz/table/99872-lake-water-quality-state-20132017/

EA2019/04

Dataset

eng-nz

Environmental reporting series: Environment Aotearoa 2019