This report provides an independent review of the groundwater quality indicator the Ministry for the Environment (MFE) and Stats NZ included in the Our freshwater 2023 report.

Independent technical reviews are an important part of the environmental reporting MfE and Stats NZ do under the Environmental Reporting Act 2015. They help ensure environmental information we produce is based on the best scientific practices and statistical methods.

MfE and Stats NZ recently commissioned GNS Science to review the groundwater quality indicator last published in April 2020. GNS Science’s report provides several recommendations to improve the way the agencies measure groundwater quality. We will consider these recommendations before the indicator’s next publication.

GNS Science report 2023/19, September 2023