Escherichia coli (E. Coli)  growth
National E. coli risk map
  • Water quality in NZ needs to improve and this will require a reduction in contaminant losses from land.

    Our understanding of the dynamics of E. coli concentrations in rivers is poor and this severely limits our ability to model and/or predict changes in microbial water quality that might occur in response to changes in land use or management (Oliver et al. 2016)

    The dataset - What is it?

    The Our Land and Water project developed an E. coli runoff risk matrix based on expert opinion. This expert opinion was supported by a review of the literature on known mechanisms of microbial transport and a review of all modelling studies published in NZ. We thus use multiple lines of evidence to support the matrix.

    The aim of this work was to develop a simple tool to help a regional council make decisions at a freshwater management unit (FMU) scale.

    This information is presented as a risk score map.

    Why it's important

    The E.coli runoff map is a simple tool to help regional councils make decisions for freshwater management. But it is also important to help build better understanding and visibility of E. coli risks in catchment communities.

    • How to use this information safely
      • Fitness for purpose / limitations

        This table indicates whether the dataset is suitable for different types of questions at different scales.

        Note: Users should carefully consider their purpose as this dataset may not be suitable.

         

        Operational

        Absolute

        Relative

        Screening/scoping

        Block/farm

        No

        No

        No

        Maybe

        Multi-farms(5+)

        No

        No

        Maybe

        Yes

        Catchment

        No

        No

        Yes

        Yes

        National/regional

        No

        No

        Yes

        Yes

        Caveats

        The outputs are based predominantly on expert opinion. Landuses across the country are lumped into 5 large classes.

        How to interpret this table

Read more about...
National E. coli risk map
  • Please note:

    You can use this information to help form an understanding of E. coli related risks based on modelled E. coli runoff from different land uses.

Locate and explore different uses for your whenua

Tell us a bit about your whenua and priorities you and your whānau hold. Our tool will present some different uses for your whenua that may help you achieve these.

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