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February 2021The New Zealand wastewater sector report documents the challenges facing the wastewater sector in New Zealand. It describes the wastewater’s regulatory and service delivery elements, and examines issues affecting the sector. Read more -
January 2021This report describes a pilot study to validate methods and assess cost savings for the design of a large-scale replacement study of the 1998-2000 Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment. Read more -
December 2020A high level, theme based summary of the reviews undertaken of each regional council or unitary authority’s regional planning instruments for the NPS-FM. Read more -
November 2020Our annual report 2019/20 provides information on how we’ve performed during 2019/20. Read more -
November 2020The Ministry for the Environment's Statement of Intent covers the years 2020 – 2025. Read more -
September 2020An evaluation report and compilation spreadsheet of available tools, databases and resources relating to the distribution of threatened freshwater species and their habitats in New Zealand. Read more -
August 2020This guidance document sets out recommended practice for the design of instream infrastructure to provide for fish passage and to set the foundation for the improvement of fish passage management in New Zealand. Read more -
August 2020The New Zealand Threat Classification System provides a tool for assigning a threat status to candidate taxa. Read more -
August 2020This report describes methods used to assess deposited sediment including the SAM2 method that is prescribed in Table 14 of Appendix 2B of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020. Read more -
August 2020This report describes the method used to calculate the average score per metric (ASPM) indicator score. Read more -
August 2020This evaluation report has been prepared under Section 32 (s32) of the Resource Management Act 1991. Read more -
July 2020This report recommends on how Ngā Wai Manga – the Urban Water Principles can be implemented (phase II). Read more -
July 2020This summary outlines the principal reasons which led to the review of the resource management system and the Resource Management Review Panel’s main recommendations in their report. Read more -
July 2020 -
July 2020New Directions for Resource Management in New Zealand is a comprehensive review of our resource management system. The review process was an opportunity to design a new system for resource management that delivers better outcomes for our environment, society, economy, and culture. Read more -
April 2020In 2018, the Ministry asked Deloitte to consider the extent of water bottling in Aotearoa New Zealand NZ and the economic value of water bottling for water bottlers and communities. This report presents their findings. Read more -
December 2019The Ministry commissioned this report to improve our understanding of how geospatial information can inform meaningful engagement with iwi/hapū. Read more -
November 2019This report by Honorary Professor Peter Skelton concerns the management and allocation of freshwater in the Otago region. It contains recommendations for the Minister for the Environment on improving freshwater management under the Resource Management Act 1991. Read more -
November 2019This report describes national data sets related to groundwater flux estimation, including the methodologies to undertake this work and resultant digital data sets. Read more -
November 2019This report reviews groundwater models in New Zealand. Read more -
November 2019This report describes an update of New Zealand's depth to hydrogeological basement map, including the methodology used to undertake this work and the resultant digital data sets. Read more -
November 2019This report describes the development of a Hydrogeological-Unit Map for New Zealand, which provides a classification of geological units in terms of their importance for groundwater flow and storage in an ArcGIS seamless digital map. Read more -
November 2019This report presents the approach and results of groundwater use in New Zealand. Read more -
October 2019Our annual report 2018/19 provides information on how we’ve performed during 2018/19. Read more -
September 2019This is the report of the Science and Technical Advisory Group (STAG), an advisory group to the Essential Freshwater programme. This report highlights a strong focus by the Science and Technical Advisory Group on the health of the environment and the waterbody. Its content and recommendations provide additional metrics for the national freshwater management framework to strengthen the relationship between this national direction and ecosystem health and functioning. Read more -
September 2019The report by the Freshwater Leaders Group notes that to improve water quality, major changes are needed to the way that we as a country protect and manage our land and water. Read more -
September 2019This report by the Regional Sector Water Subgroup contributes the views and expeiences of regional councils to the Essential Freshwater programme. The group's advice focusses on likely impacts and practical implementation issues relating to proposed policies. Read more -
September 2019The expenses of the Ministry for the Environment’s Chief Executive for the period 1 July 2018 - 30 June 2019. Read more -
September 2019This report by Kāhui Wai Māori sets out recommendations for our nation to journey together in implementing a managed transitoin to a new system of care and respect for water. Read more -
April 2019This report presents the findings of a review of the effectiveness of the National Policy Statement on Electricity Transmission and the National Environmental Standard for Electricity Transmission Activities. Read more -
December 2018This report summarises the findings of the Ministry’s review of the National Environmental Standard for Source of Human Drinking Water. Read more -
December 2018Ministry for the Environment, in partnership with Bay of Plenty Regional Council, commissioned a literature review to get an accessible summary of relevant research carried out in New Zealand on methods to manage sediment and their economic assessment. Read more -
November 2018This report assesses how well we are developing and maintaining the regulatory regimes we are responsible for, including the state of each piece of legislation, any plans for amendments, and our view of important emerging issues. Read more -
October 2018Our annual report 2017/18 provides information on how we’ve performed during 2017/18. Read more -
October 2018This report documents the initial work of the Urban Water Working Group – an independent collaborative body comprising urban water practitioners and technical experts convened by the Ministry for the Environment. Read more -
July 2018 -
May 2018This report outlines the establishment of reference conditions and trigger values. Reference conditions are defined as the chemical, physical or biological conditions that can be expected in streams and rivers with minimal or no anthropogenic influence. Read more -
April 2018This report provides an analysis of New Zealand’s wetland loss for the period summer 2001/2 through to summer 2015/2016. Read more -
April 2018The Ministry for the Environment, Department of Conservation, and the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge co-funded research to look at contemporary losses of wetland extent in New Zealand. This report provides recommendations and a suggested path forward to improve our ability to monitor and report on national wetland extent. Read more -
March 2018This report sets out our research on tangata whenua provisions in district and regional planning documents and discusses their variation. Read more -
December 2017This package of briefings was provided to the incoming Minister for the Environment and Minister for Climate in October 2017. Read more -
October 2017This report compares nutrient measurements in Wellington rivers by national recommended protocols versus Greater Wellington Regional Council’s historical protocols. Read more -
October 2017Our Statement of Intent 2017–2021 and Annual Report 2016/17 provides information about our plans for the next four years and how we’ve performed during 2016/17. Read more -
September 2017The Clean Water discussion document proposed changes to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. Following the consultation recommendations on amending the Freshwater NPS were made to the Minister for the Environment. This report provides a summary of decisions the Minister made based on those recommendations. Read more -
September 2017This report investigates how the structure, format, and presentation of RMA plans impact the ability of lay people to navigate and understand the plan provisions. Read more -
August 2017This review provides a stocktake of the progress made by each regional council towards implementing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) in their plans. Read more -
August 2017This is an evaluation under s32AA of the Resource Management Act 1991, and further evaluates any changes to amendments proposed in the Clean Water discussion document since the initial s32 evaluation (published February 2017). Read more -
July 2017This project was aimed at developing Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s (BOPRC) staff capability to apply tools and frameworks to support freshwater policy development. It introduced tools, frameworks, processes and disciplines that will strengthen the policy process. Read more -
July 2017Since 2015, Gisborne District Council (GDC) and Beef and Lamb New Zealand have been engaging with Rere farmers to try and raise water quality together to a swimmable standard. Farmer interest and participation in the project has been high and this report tells the story of the Rere Project to date, including lessons, next steps and strategic implications. Read more -
July 2017This report assesses how well we are developing and maintaining the regulatory regimes that we are responsible for, including the current state of each piece of legislation, any plans for amendments, and our view of important emerging issues. Read more