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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 -
August 2020The New Zealand Threat Classification System provides a tool for assigning a threat status to candidate taxa. Read more -
February 2017This report provides a classification of coastal hydrosystems within New Zealand, including some offshore islands. Read more -
February 2019This review was carried out to improve understanding of marine habitats in New Zealand. Read more -
November 2006This report provides an overview of consumptive water allocation and use in New Zealand in 2006. 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 -
June 2002Information for lake managers on on native and exotic fish populations in substantial lakes and reservoirs. Read more -
August 2008In 2004, the Government decided to review flood risk management to ensure the framework was robust. The Ministry for the Environment led the review, and a Steering Group provided direction and guidance. This report presents the review's findings. 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 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 -
December 2009These guidelines provide advice on how public health risk associated with cyanobacteria in recreational waters can be managed. Read more -
March 2000This protocol specifies a cost-effective method to determine the trophic levels of lakes, and changes in these levels over time. Read more -
June 2000A background review of the structure and value of periphyton communities in streams, factors controlling growth and composition of periphyton, and the effects of human activities on the community. Read more -
December 2006This document provides a step-by-step protocol for the collection of groundwater samples in New Zealand. 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 -
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 -
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 2019This guide provides information for people who import, manufacture, or sell products covered by New Zealand’s Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS). Read more -
April 2004This document provides interim guidance on ‘functional’ indicators of ecosystem processes, such as ecosystem metabolism Read more -
April 2011This guideline has been developed through a partnership between the Ministry for the Environment, regional councils and unitary authorities to ensure consistency in the reporting on contaminated sites. Read more -
July 2001This publication provides background information about the sources, causes and processes involved with the deterioration of streams in farmed catchments and the consequences of that deterioration. Read more -
September 2016This draft revised guideline has been released to assist understanding of the proposed amendments to the National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health. The final revised guideline will be gazetted in early 2017. 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 2003The Ministry and local government developed these guidelines to ensure the consistent selection and application of the environmental guideline values most commonly used in contaminated site assessments in New Zealand. 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 -
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 2020This document provides detailed technical guidance about the new freshwater planning process (FPP) introduced by the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020. 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 -
June 2002Information for lake managers on pest fish and weeds in New Zealand lakes. Read more -
June 2001The Soil Conservation Handbook is a comprehensive collection of information about soil conservation in New Zealand. Part A covers the forms and processes of the main types of erosion in New Zealand while Part B describes the control techniques. Read more -
October 2018This document sets out the Government’s plan to restore and protect freshwater in New Zealand. Read more -
December 2012The latest indicator update providing information on the area of New Zealand’s marine areas with legal protection. Read more -
November 2001This protocol identifies and describes standardised protocols for use by agencies throughout New Zealand for macroinvertebrate biomonitoring. Read more -
January 2010The latest indicator update providing information on the state of New Zealand’s land, using the soil health indicator. Read more -
October 2018This document describes a framework for assessing the biophysical ecosystem health of fresh water in Aotearoa New Zealand. 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 -
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 -
January 2011The proposed NPS on Indigenous Biodiversity sets out the Government's expectations for managing New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity under the Resource Management Act 1991. 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 -
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 -
October 2016'Our marine environment 2016' provides an overview of the pressures New Zealand's marine environment faces, how it is changing, and the impacts on our biodiversity, economy, and way of life. Read more -
October 2011This checklist should be included as a cover sheet for all contaminated site investigations. The checklist is taken from the Contaminated Land Management Guidelines No.1 – Reporting on Contaminated Sites in New Zealand (Revised 2011). Read more -
December 2008The 2008 environmental report card providing information on the area of New Zealand’s marine areas with legal protection. This report card has been superseded by the Marine Protected Areas indicator update published in 2012. Read more -
July 2008This proposed National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management sets out the objective and policies for managing New Zealand's freshwater resources under the Resource Management Act 1991. The NPS came into effect on 1 July 2011. Read more -
February 2004This guideline provides best practice for the sampling and analysis of soils on sites where hazardous substances are present or suspected in soils in New Zealand, and guidance on the principles governing the interpretation of the data obtained. Read more -
November 2010This environmental report card is one of a series that provides information on New Zealand’s fishing activity from an environmental perspective. Total commercial catch and stock status are used to report on fish stocks under the quota management system (QMS). 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 2009The Water Research Strategy sets out the issues for water management and guides investment in water research. It is intended to guide the science sector to deliver the information and tools required to enable world class management of water resources in New Zealand. Read more -
March 2010This snapshot report is one of a series that provides information on New Zealand’s fishing activity from an environmental perspective. To report on seabed trawling, the area trawled by commercial trawlers and the types of fish found in different trawled areas are estimated. 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