River water quality for ecological health

Methods - How we monitor

• Where and how we collect the data

  We do routine monitoring of river water quality under two main programmes. This monitoring provides information on the condition of the water so that we can assess its suitability for desired uses (for example, supporting healthy ecosystems, human recreation). The programmes are:

  1. Waikato River monitoring programme
  2. Regional rivers monitoring programme (which covers rivers throughout the region, other than the Waikato River).

  Monitoring sites

  We have 10 sites on the Waikato River and 105 sites on other rivers and streams (including two NIWA sites).

  Sites are grouped into two river reaches (upper and lower reaches of the Waikato River) and seven zones.

  Table 1: Water quality monitoring river reaches and zones

  	Number of sites
  Upper Waikato River	5
  Lower Waikato River	5
  Coromandel	11
  Hauraki	13
  Inflows to Lake Taupō	13
  Upland tributaries of the Waikato River	12
  Lowland tributaries of the Waikato River	26
  Waipa River and tributaries	16
  West Coast	14
  Total	115

  Monitoring frequency

  Each site is visited at monthly intervals.

  Monitoring history

  The Waikato Regional Council began monitoring sites on the Waikato River between 1980 and 1987. The regional rivers programme started monitoring between 1993 and 1994.

  Measurement technique

  Water quality is measured by taking some measurements on site (for example, water temperature and water clarity) and taking samples of water back to the laboratory for analysis. More than 20 water quality variables are measured, including:

  1. physical variables (for example, temperature, pH, turbidity)
  2. chemical variables (for example, dissolved oxygen, arsenic, nitrogen and phosphorus)
  3. microbiological variables (for example, faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli).
• How this indicator is compiled

  Three categories of water quality for ecological health were developed: excellent, satisfactory and unsatisfactory. These were based on ‘critical values’ for seven water quality variables we identified as relevant to the suitability of river water for ecological health:

  1. dissolved oxygen
  2. pH
  3. turbidity
  4. ammonia
  5. temperature
  6. total phosphorus
  7. total nitrogen.

  Check out the table below for critical values for the three categories that were derived from national or other standards and guidelines, and from expert opinion.

  At each monitoring site, the proportions of all samples collected during 2015-2019 for a given water quality variable which met the standard for excellent water quality were determined. Similarly the proportions which met the standard for satisfactory and unsatisfactory water quality were determined. This process was undertaken for all seven variables.

  At each site, the average value of the proportions found to be ‘excellent’ for each of the seven variables was calculated. Average proportions for the ‘satisfactory’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ categories were also calculated.

  The results for the individual sites were then aggregated according to site location. Results from the Waikato River sites upstream of Lake Karapiro were aggregated into an ‘Upper River’ result, while the other sites were aggregated into a ‘Lower River’ result. The results for the other sites were aggregated into seven ‘water zones’.
• Guidelines and standards

  The table below lists the water quality guidelines and standards used.

  Table 2: Guidelines and standards used to assess water quality for ecological health

  Water quality variable (units)	Relevance		Categories
  		Excellent	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory
  Dissolved oxygen (% of saturation)	Oxygen for aquatic animals to breathe	>90	80–90	<80
  pH (acidity)	Can affect plants and fish	7–8	6.5–7 or 8–9	<6.5 or >9
  Turbidity (NTU)	Can restrict plant growth	<2	2–5	>5
  Ammonia (g N/m3)	Toxic to fish	<0.1	0.1–0.88	>0.88
  Temperature (°C)	Fish spawning May-Sep	<10	10–12	>12
  	Fish health Oct-Apr	<16	16–20	>20
  Total phosphorus (g/m3)	Causes nuisance plant growth	<0.01	0.01–0.04	>0.04
  Total nitrogen (g/m3)	Causes nuisance plant growth	<0.1	0.1–0.5	>0.5
• Limitations

  The aggregation of river water quality data within a zone or reach ignores any differences between the sites in a given zone or reach.

  Quality control procedures

  Tulagi, A. 2017. Waikato River Water Quality Monitoring Programme: Data Report 2016. Waikato Regional Council Technical Report 2017/14. Waikato Regional Council, Hamilton.