You are here: Environmental reporting 
Fresh water River water quality
Limitations of the river water quality indicator
While the indicators for fresh water provide an overview of the quality and level of allocation in New Zealand, they do not provide a complete picture of the health of our fresh water. The indicators do not include several pollutants that can affect water quality, such as herbicide and pesticide residues, dissolved metals, pharmaceuticals and hydrocarbons.
The indicators do not cover other important aspects of freshwater ecosystem health, such as the type and abundance of fish and aquatic plants. While many regional councils undertake such monitoring as part of their freshwater management programmes, data is not yet ready for reporting on a consistent format at the national level.
This information has come from the latest state of the environment report, Environment New Zealand 2007.
Return to the river water quality page.
Last updated: December 2007
