River water quality Tables

Benthic macroinvertebrates are small animals without backbones (eg insects and worms). They live on and under submerged logs, rocks, and aquatic plants on the beds of rivers and streams during some part of their life cycle. Macroinvertebrates play a central role in stream ecosystems by feeding on periphyton (algae), macrophytes (aquatic plants), dead leaves and wood, or on each other. A high macroinvertebrate community index (MCI) indicates a high level of river health.

File contains state results for each monitored site, expressed as percentile calculations for the period 2009-2013. See Larned et 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: Benthic macroinvertebrates" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Benthic macroinvertebrates are small animals without backbones (eg insects and worms). They live on and under submerged logs, rocks, and aquatic plants on the beds of rivers and streams during some part of their life cycle. Macroinvertebrates play a central role in stream ecosystems by feeding on periphyton (algae), macrophytes (aquatic plants), dead leaves and wood, or on each other. A high macroinvertebrate community index (MCI) indicates a high level of river health.

File contains trend statistics and calculation results for the period 2004-2013.

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: Benthic macroinvertebrates" measure 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.

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.

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.

Urban water quality indicators include heavy metals, nutrients, and E.coli. The concentrations of these indicators are compared to the proportion of urban land cover in catchments.

Heavy metals have the ability to accumulate in sediments, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms. Metals can reach toxic levels in organisms making them unsafe to consume and can be toxic to aquatic life. Nutrients can cause excessive algal growth and E.coli has the ability to make people sick while they are swimming if concentrations are high enough. Rivers with poor water quality are rarely suitable for recreation and provide poor habitats for aquatic species.

File contains data analysis of medians and percentiles by site for water quality indicators, and includes the proportion of urban land cover in catchments in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the period 2013–2015.

Urban water quality indicators include heavy metals, nutrients, and E.coli. The concentrations of these indicators are compared to the proportion of urban land cover in catchments.

Zinc and copper are heavy metals that can accumulate in sediments, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms. Metals can reach toxic levels in organisms making them unsafe to eat and can be toxic to aquatic life. Nitrogen and phosphorus are nutrients that can cause excessive algal growth. Ammonical nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen can be toxic to aquatic life if concentrations in streams are high enough. E.coli is an indicator of disease-causing organisms, which may affect human health and recreational values in streams.

File contains trend analyses by site for water quality indicators in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch over the period 2008–15.

Urban water quality indicators include heavy metals, nutrients, and E.coli. The concentrations of these indicators are compared to the proportion of urban land cover in catchments.

Heavy metals have the ability to accumulate in sediments, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms. Metals can reach toxic levels in organisms making them unsafe to consume and can be toxic to aquatic life. Nutrients can cause excessive algal growth and E.coli has the ability to make people sick while they are swimming if concentrations are high enough. Rivers with poor water quality are rarely suitable for recreation and provide poor habitats for aquatic species.

File contains data related to each sampling occasion by site for each water quality indicator in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch over the period 1985–15.

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.

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 (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 regional council and NIWA monitored sites over the period 1975-2013. Fields are described as follows. Refer to Larned et al. 2015 for further details:
* nemarid ---- Unique NIWA ID
* lawaid ---- Unique LAWA ID
* rcid ---- Collection agency
* srcid ---- Region site is located in
* sflag ---- River (r) or Estuary (e)
* river ---- River name
* location ---- Name of site, assigned by collection agency
* nzmge ---- easting
* nzmgn ---- northing
* nzreach ---- REC1 segment identifier
* sdate ---- Sample date (yyyy-mm-dd)
* Q ---- Flow recorded when sample was taken (if available), cumecs
* npid ---- NIWA parameter ID (as used in Larned et al. 2015)
* lpid ---- LAWA parameter ID
* fdval ---- 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/Mo8VUY from the Ministry for the Environment dataservice.

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