Fresh water
There is currently one classification used for national environmental reporting on the state of freshwater in New Zealand - the River Environment Classification.
River Environment Classification (REC)
The New Zealand River Environment Classification (REC) organises information about the physical characteristics of New Zealand's rivers. Individual river sections are mapped according to physical factors such as climate, source of flow for the river water, topography, and geology, and catchment land cover eg, forest, pasture or urban. Sections of river that have similar ecological characteristics can then be grouped together, no matter where they are.
This information is mapped for New Zealand's entire river network - over 425,000 kilometres of river. Different types of rivers respond differently to the pressures placed on them - the REC can be used to highlight the most appropriate management tools and approaches to reduce these pressures for each river type. Information from the classification is used to develop policy, assess the environment, and report on the quality of river water.
The REC river network, watersheds and catchment data layers can be downloaded from Koordinates.com. The data was re-released in 2010 under the NZGOAL framework.
You can download a copy of the 2010 REC User Guide (PDF 5.12 MB) and the supplementary river names spreadsheet (EXCEL 1.8KB) that can be joined to the REC network table of attributes.
Additional metadata can be found on our Enviromental Classification Systems and Spatial Frameworks page.
The map below is an example of the REC for the river network in the Canterbury region. The rivers are divided into nine groups, according to the type of landscape they spring from (for example, a glacial mountain) and their underlying geology (for example, soft sedimentary rock). The key shows a colour code for each different river type.
Example: River Environment Classification (REC) for Canterbury region
