You are here: Info about... 
Fresh water Water quality
Ecological health – guidelines and tools
This page includes water quality guidelines, tools and protocols for monitoring and managing rivers, streams and lakes in New Zealand, including periphyton, macroinvertebrates and fish.
The ANZECC water quality guidelines for fresh and marine water quality, 2000, contain trigger values for the protection of aquatic ecosystems.
The New Zealand Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit,1998, consists of a user guide and equipment for monitoring that will enable users to collect scientifically robust data on stream health.
Lakes
Below are links to a series of handbooks and protocols to assist resource managers with the monitoring and management of New Zealand’s lakes:
- Lake Manager’s Handbook: Fish in New Zealand Lakes, June 2002
- Lake Manager’s Handbook: Alien Invaders, June 2002
- Lake Manager’s Handbook: Lake Level Management, June 2002
- Lake Manager’s Handbook: Land-Water Interactions, June 2002
- Protocol for monitoring trophic levels of New Zealand Lakes, March 2000
Macroinvertebrates
Protocols for sampling macroinvertebrates in wadeable streams, 2001, identifies and describes standardised protocols for the monitoring of macroinvertebrates in New Zealand.
A User Guide for the Macroinvertebrate Community Index, 2007, provides an expert view on best practice use of the Macroinvertebrate Community Index for monitoring and reporting on stream health.
The Use of Macroinvertebrates in Water Management, 1999, examines the use of macroinvertebrates for monitoring water quality and stream ecosystem health and makes recommendations for their further use.
Periphyton
New Zealand Periphyton Guideline: Detecting, Monitoring and Managing Enrichment of Streams, June 2000, is a background review of the structure and value of periphyton communities in streams, factors controlling growth and composition, and the effects of human activities on periphyton.
Further information
- See the fresh water page for related projects, policies, regulations, reports, partnerships, guidelines and tools about fresh water.
- For a full list of publications relating to water refer to the water publications page.
Last updated: 24 November 2008
