Publication Search
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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 2020This evaluation report has been prepared under Section 32 (s32) of the Resource Management Act 1991. 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 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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
July 2020This report recommends on how Ngā Wai Manga – the Urban Water Principles can be implemented (phase II). 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 -
February 2017This report reviews the original report, 'Strategic assessment of New Zealand’s freshwaters for recreational use: a human health perspective'. Read more -
May 2017This report outlines recommendations for a guideline for sedimentation in estuaries. Read more -
November 2006This report provides an overview of consumptive water allocation and use in New Zealand in 2006. Read more -
August 2020This report describes the method used to calculate the average score per metric (ASPM) indicator score. Read more -
November 2013This summary report provides an overview of the component economic impact studies relevant to the Southland Region. 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 -
October 2017This report compares nutrient measurements in Wellington rivers by national recommended protocols versus Greater Wellington Regional Council’s historical protocols. Read more -
November 2006This report provides a snapshot of lake water quality and lake water quality monitoring in New Zealand between and 1995 and 2005. 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 -
December 2018This report summarises the findings of the Ministry’s review of the National Environmental Standard for Source of Human Drinking Water. Read more -
August 2010The report updates an analysis of trends in water quality between 1989 and 2003 which was summarised in Environment New Zealand 2007. Read more -
November 2013This report provides an overview of the contribution and the value of water to the outputs of key economic sectors in the region. Read more -
November 2013This report evaluates the potential economic impact on electricity generation arising from hypothetical altered minimum flow regimes on various rivers (used for electricity generation). Read more -
August 2017The Ministry commissioned this report to analyse how regional, unitary and district councils are managing biodiversity through planning documents under the Resource Management Act. Read more -
November 2013This report presents the results of the research project that looks into understanding farmers' responses to policies setting limits on the use of freshwater resources. Read more -
November 2013This report compiles a list of mitigation strategies for managing water quality that are currently available in New Zealand. It provides a commentary on their relative cost-effectiveness. Read more -
September 2010This report provides an assessment of the health of the Waikato River and its catchment. It recommends actions that could be undertaken to restore the river. 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 -
November 2013This report compiles a list of mitigation strategies for managing water quality that are currently available in New Zealand. It provides a commentary on their relative cost-effectiveness. Read more -
On tap?: Attitudes, behaviours, and perceptions of household water use – informing demand managementJuly 2009This report summarises research on household water use. It presents existing and new consumer research on attitudes to water, population segmentations, behaviours, and barriers and incentives to action. 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 2012This report presents an in-depth, qualitative case study of an important experience of collaborative governance: the process undertaken by a small steering group developing the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. Read more -
November 2013This report analyses the economic consequences of achieving a nitrate toxicity bottom line based on the National Objectives Framework in the Hinds zone in Canterbury under a number of different policy scenarios. Read more -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
May 2017This report provides information on the categories used in the swimming maps, proposed targets, and proposed amendments to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management released as part of the Government’s Clean Water package in February 2017. Read more -
September 2009This report provides an update of results for indicators of groundwater quality in New Zealand. It summarises average water quality at almost 1000 monitoring sites over the period 1995-2008, as well as trends at the same sites within that period of time. 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 -
March 2019This updated National Implementation Plan outlines measures to implement our obligations relating to new persistent organic pollutants added to the Stockholm Convention in 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017. It also reports on New Zealand’s achievements in phasing out the 12 initial POPs. Read more -
June 2017Otago Regional Council (ORC) requested a programme of experimentation that would deliver quantitative measurements of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and fluxes in leachate reported for pasture, forage crop and native bush sites in the West Matukituki Valley, located west of Lake Wanaka. 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 -
May 2017This report talks about a national-level study that used a catchment model to explore where there may be capacity or ‘headroom’ for land-use intensification, taking into account constraints on contaminant loss from land due to freshwater bottom lines, and requirements for water quality to be maintained or improved. Read more -
June 2017The regional/unitary councils for Waikato, Auckland, and Northland require a model to predict the annual delivery and sources of sediment across their regions for the purposes of environmental reporting and to inform strategy, policy, and sediment management operations. This study addresses this requirement in two tasks. 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 -
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 -
To prevent further deterioration of the Makauri aquifer, the largest aquifer underneath the Poverty Bay flats, Gisborne District Council (GDC) is currently investigating options for a Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) scheme. Read more -
June 2017The Chief Economist Unit (CEU) at the Auckland Council commissioned this study on behalf of the Ministry for Environment to look at the feasibility of developing a Computational General Equilibrium (CGE) model to analyse the economic impacts of implementing the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management. 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