We summarise some of many gaps in available data about water quality. We acknowledge that information to fill some of these gaps may already exist, or research is underway. We intend to provide information that will fill these gaps (if available) in our next report on fresh water.
- Information on relationships between land use and water quality.
- Information on the effect various land-use and land-management practices have on water quality.
- Information on the extent of impervious surfaces in urban areas and their impact on water quality and quantity.
- Information on water quality for Stewart Island, the Chatham Islands, and other outlying islands.
- Information on a larger number of lakes, with greater geographic distribution (lake water quality results in this report are largely from the Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and Canterbury regions).
- Increased information on river, lake, and groundwater quality monitoring sites in native and exotic forest areas, given that pastoral and urban sites are currently over-represented in the monitoring network.
- Consistent information on the monitoring of the quality of recreational water.
- Information on biologically relevant variables such as deposited sediment, continuous dissolved oxygen, periphyton, and benthic cyanobacteria.
- Information on groundwater salinity.
- Information on emerging contaminants.
Data gaps
March 2021
© Ministry for the Environment