Publication Search
Search below then narrow your results using the options on the left.
-
December 2018This guide provides practical considerations, principles and methods to help regional council staff identify, assess, communicate and manage uncertainty in freshwater management. It may also be useful for iwi and hapū or community participants in regional freshwater planning processes to better understand these issues. Read more -
December 2018Ministry for the Environment, in partnership with Bay of Plenty Regional Council, commissioned Perrin Ag Consultants Ltd and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research to develop mitigation bundles for use in evaluating the cost of improving water quality in the Kaituna-Pongakawa-Waitahanui and Rangitāiki Water Management Areas. Read more -
December 2018Ministry for the Environment, in partnership with Bay of Plenty Regional Council, commissioned Perrin Ag Consultants Ltd and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research to assess the farm/orchard-gate economic impact of applying a range of mitigation practices to reduce losses of nitrogen, phosphorus, E. coli and sediment. 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 -
October 2018This document captures areas of shared interest in water quality and ecosystem health improvements and defines how the Crown and Māori will work together to make improvements to New Zealand’s freshwater. Read more -
October 2018View the high-level detail on each of the work streams in the Essential Freshwater work programme and the indicative timeframes. Read more -
October 2018This factsheet provides further guidance on assessing the feasibility of housing development capacity for local authorities that are completing their housing and business development capacity assessments. It clarifies the requirement assess the feasibility of housing development capacity based on current market conditions. Read more -
October 2018This report presents summary information and statistics on the composition and sources of airborne particulate matter (PM) samples collected at air quality monitoring sites around New Zealand. Read more -
October 2018This report details a national inventory for 2015 for priority air pollutants. Read more -
October 2018This report supports the provision of nitrogen dioxide concentrations data. Read more -
October 2018This report presents a stocktake of black carbon concentrations measured in atmospheric aerosol samples collected at approximately 40 air quality monitoring sites across New Zealand and identifies the primary sources of the black carbon. 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 -
October 2018This document describes a framework for assessing the biophysical ecosystem health of fresh water in Aotearoa New Zealand. Read more -
October 2018This document sets out the Government’s plan to restore and protect freshwater in New Zealand. Read more -
September 2018This report has two sections: Section 1, facilitated by Te Ātiawa Manawhenua Ki Te Tau Ihu Trust, describes the history and cultural values associated with the Waitohi and Waikawa streams. Section 2, an interim report by the Marlborough District Council, addresses Water Quality in the Waitohi and Waikawa catchments. This work will be used to inform future work that both parties can undertake in these catchments. Read more -
September 2018The Ministry for the Environment commissioned this research to identify perceived barriers to the adoption of any of the three mechanisms proposed in the draft plan change for the Tutaekuri, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamu catchments (known as ‘TANK’). Read more -
September 2018This report offers preliminary guidance to water management groups(WMGs), regional councils and other interested parties on how WMGs can be structured and what regional council plans should contain to improve the likelihood that groups will achieve the freshwater outcomes desired by their communities. Read more -
August 2018These guidelines provide water managers with tools and guidance to assess, manage and monitor the water quality. They complement the existing National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (Freshwater NPS) which is the main direction to local government about how to manage fresh water in New Zealand. Read more -
August 2018This technical guidance will help councils with the process set out in the Periphyton Attribute Note in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (as amended 2017). Read more -
August 2018Trend analyses performed on many sites are regularly aggregated by water quality variable and summarised in tabular, graphical or map format as part of environmental reporting. Read more -
July 2018This report evaluates the Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessments (HBAs) from the high-growth urban areas, and suggests how future HBAs can be improved. It aims to help those who are also producing a HBA, such as the medium-growth councils, as well as indicates to the high-growth councils where improvements can be made in future HBAs. Read more -
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 -
May 2018Phormidium is a potentially toxic, mat-forming benthic cyanobacterium found in an increasing number of New Zealand rivers. This report outlines a study which assessed Phormidium toxin levels in the Cardrona (Otago), Mataura (Southland) and Hutt (Wellington) Rivers in 2017. Read more -
May 2018The Managing Upstream project aims to help inform management decisions when establishing freshwater objectives under the Freshwater NPS and increase knowledge on the state of different estuary types in New Zealand. Read more -
May 2018The Managing Upstream project aims to help inform management decisions when establishing freshwater objectives under the Freshwater NPS and increase knowledge on the state of different estuary types in New Zealand. Read more -
May 2018Phormidium is a potentially toxic, mat-forming benthic cyanobacterium found in an increasing number of New Zealand rivers. This report outlines a study which investigated drivers of Phormidium blooms in New Zealand rivers to predict risk of blooms. Read more -
May 2018This report provides an environmental classification system for a potential deposited sediment indicator in the National Objectives Framework. The system classifies streams according to their modelled reference state. This report is an interim deliverable for an ongoing research programme that builds on and refines its findings and will conclude in June 2018. Read more -
May 2018This research assesses the applicability of environmental classification systems for a potential suspended sediment indicator in the National Objectives Framework. It evaluated the relationship between modelled suspended sediment indicator values and observed values, land cover, and River Environment Classification typologies. This report is an interim deliverable for an ongoing research programme that builds on and refines its findings and will conclude in June 2018. Read more -
May 2018This report proposes updated guideline values for copper and zinc in marine and freshwaters. 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 guide provides information about the attributes in Appendix 2 of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (as amended 2017). Read more -
March 2018This guide provides information about setting limits under the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (as amended 2017). Read more -
March 2018This working paper produced by NIWA for the Ministry for the Environment in 2016 proposes a methodology for calculating over-allocation of fresh water. Read more -
March 2018This report has regional summaries of the work planned or underway to improve water quality in rivers and lakes in terms of human health. Read more -
February 2018An independent report has shown that water quality for sediment and E. coli have improved over the past 7-10 years in the Horizons Region. There are encouraging signs that local scale interventions are collectively contributing to regional scale water quality improvements. The case study, conducted by Land Water People Ltd and reviewed by NIWA and StatsNZ, was commissioned jointly by the Ministry for the Environment and Horizons Regional Council as a way to understand improving water quality trends in the Manawatū-Whanganui Region. Read more -
February 2018The report provides an inventory of the annual distribution of mercury and mercury-containing goods and materials in New Zealand from anthropogenic (man-made) sources, for a base year of 2016. It builds on the information in the previous 2012 and 2008 mercury inventories. Read more