Improving estuary data
The Ministry for the Environment is committed to improving data on New Zealand’s estuaries. Discover more about how our estuaries are monitored and reported, and our data improvement projects.
Environmental reporting
Estuaries are found where freshwater meets the sea, and information on the state of our estuaries can be included in reporting focused on freshwater or the marine environment (and often in both). The Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand report on the state of freshwater and marine domains every three years. This reporting helps us to understand our environment, track the impacts of human activities over time and identify environmental challenges. This work includes the update of indicators that can track changes in estuaries and associated data improvements.
See Our marine environment 2022.
Estuary indicators
- Coastal and estuarine water quality [Stats NZ website]
- Heavy metal load in coastal and estuarine sediment [Stats NZ website]
- Extinction threat to indigenous species [Stats NZ website]
There are gaps in data coverage and consistency that limit our understanding and reporting.
There are about 400 estuaries in New Zealand and monitoring can be challenging. We are working with others, such as the Department of Conservation, Ministry for Primary Industries, local government and research agencies to fill critical data gaps and to support those carrying out estuarine monitoring. For example, we have been working to update the National Estuary Monitoring Protocol, which is used by local government agencies to guide estuarine monitoring.
See the National Estuary Monitoring Protocol.