Spot sampling of nutrient concentrations in the Puarenga catchment, Rotorua

The Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research was approached by Tūhourangi Tribal Authority for assistance with measuring water quality in streams in the Puarenga Stream catchment. Water sampling was subsequently undertaken on 18 July 2011 and samples were analysed to determine concentrations of total and dissolved fractions of nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen and phosphorus are both essential plant nutrients which, when present in excess, can cause eutrophication and associated water quality decline of freshwaters. High concentrations of dissolved forms of nitrogen can also be toxic to aquatic organisms. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations are typically the result of pollution due to human activities, although groundwater in the Central Volcanic Plateau region can have elevated concentrations of phosphorus arising from natural geological sources. This report summarises the methods used, presents the results and places measured concentrations in context by drawing comparisons with both guideline and regional mean values

A review of Australian approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition: III. Evaluation against international best practice and recommendations for the future

In this final component of a three-part review, we present a national synthesis and evaluation of approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition across Australia. Progress is evaluated against objective criteria that together provide a model of international best practice. We critically assess the limitations, inconsistencies and gaps that are evident across Australian jurisdictions, and identify common obstacles to future progress. Major strengths and successes are also highlighted, together with specific examples of best practice from around Australia that are transferable to other States and beyond. Significant obstacles to greater national coordination of monitoring and reporting practices include inconsistent spatial scales of management, pluralistic governance structures and the lack of any overarching legislation. Nonetheless, many perceptible advances have been made over the last decade across Australia in estuarine monitoring and health assessment, and there is great potential for further progress. Finally, we provide a list of recommendations to address some of the most pressing limitations and gaps, and support improved future monitoring, assessment and reporting for Australian estuaries

Prevalence and occurrence of zoonotic bacterial pathogens in surface waters determined by quantitative PCR

The prevalence and concentrations of Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella spp. and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) were investigated in surface waters in Brisbane, Australia using quantitative PCR (qPCR) based methodologies. Water samples were collected from Brisbane City Botanic Gardens (CBG) Pond, and two urban tidal creeks (i.e., Oxley Creek and Blunder Creek). Of the 32 water samples collected, 8 (25%), 1 (3%), 9 (28%), 14 (44%), and 15 (47%) were positive for C. jejuni mapA, Salmonella invA, EHEC O157 LPS, EHEC VT1, and EHEC VT2 genes, respectively. The presence/absence of the potential pathogens did not correlate with either E. coli or enterococci concentrations as determined by binary logistic regression. In conclusion, the high prevalence, and concentrations of potential zoonotic pathogens along with the concentrations of one or more fecal indicators in surface water samples indicate a poor level of microbial quality of surface water, and could represent a significant health risk to users. The results from the current study would provide valuable information to the water quality managers in terms of minimizing the risk from pathogens in surface waters

Review of trace toxic elements (Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Sb, Bi, Se, Te) and their deportment in gold processing. Part 1: Mineralogy, aqueous chemistry and toxicity

A literature review on the deportment of trace toxic elements (Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Sb, Bi, Se, and Te) in gold processing by cyanidation is presented which compiles the current knowledge in this area and highlights the gaps. This review, together with further research on the gaps in the thermodynamics and kinetics of these systems, aims to support the development of computer models to predict the chemical speciation and deportment of these elements through the various stages of the gold cyanidation process. The first part of this review is a collation of the relevant information on trace element mineralogy, aqueous chemistry and toxicity, together with a comparison of two available software packages (JESS and OLI) for thermodynamic modelling. Chemical speciation modelling can assist in understanding the chemistry of the trace toxic elements in gold cyanidation solutions which remains largely unexplored. Many significant differences exist between the predicted speciation of these trace elements for different types of modelling software due to differences in the thermodynamic data used, the paucity of data that exists under appropriate non-ideal conditions, and the methods used by the software packages to estimate thermodynamic parameters under these conditions. The toxicity and environmental guidelines of the chosen trace element species that exist in aqueous solutions are discussed to better understand the health and environmental risks associated with the presence of these elements in gold ores

A review of Australian approaches for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition: I. International context and evaluation criteria

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd Given the immeasurable value of estuaries and their severe and growing pressures, sound understanding and reporting of estuarine condition is essential for their effective management and sustainable development. In light of this, we aim to provide a timely and comprehensive three-part review of the approaches currently employed for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition, focussing on Australian systems. Here, in Part 1, we establish the national and international context of our review and define globally-relevant evaluation criteria against which to assess Australian progress. We achieve this by examining effective monitoring, assessment and reporting programs from around the world and characterising ‘best practice’. We then highlight the Australian historical context and consider recent policies, frameworks, guidelines and legislation relating to the monitoring and reporting of estuarine condition nationwide

Willingness to pay for kerbside recycling the Brisbane Region

Waste policy in Australia has a strong focus on kerbside recycling. This has a range of costs and benefits to the community, including non-market benefits. However, in Australia, there has been little investigation of household willingness to pay for kerbside recycling. This paper used mixed logit choice modelling to estimate the willingness to pay of households in Brisbane, Australia for kerbside waste collection services including kerbside recycling. It was found that households in Brisbane have a positive and significant willingness to pay of $131.49 per annum for fortnightly kerbside recycling and would be willing to pay an additional$18.30 to increase the frequency of this service to weekly. The utility of respondents was, however, found to decline by $34.18 per year if general waste collection increased from weekly to twice a week. Based on the assumptions used in this study it would appear that the willingness to pay for kerbside recycling exceeds the net financial costs of this service, suggesting that the scheme is economically efficient. However, the reported economic values for recycling may overstate the community’s true willingness to pay if household responses to the choice questions were confounded by their underlying perceptions about the environmental and resource sustainability benefits of recycling.Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Physical environment, nutrient budget, and ecology of Lake Moana-nui, Tokoroa

This report is based on fortnightly monitoring data collected over a 14 month period from November 2000 to January 2002 and a survey of the lake bathymetry and vegetation distribution. The project also included a detailed investigation into the associations between macroinvertebrates and the native and exotic plants in the lake, and experiments evaluating the effects of the large populations of the water flea Simocephalus vetulus that the lake maintains on algal concentrations and therefore water clarity. The aim of this report is to present and discuss the results of the monitoring, surveys, and experiments in order to make recommendations for the future management and health of Lake Moana-nui

Investigating the effectiveness of environmental regulation to protect waterways receiving coal mine wastewater

Environmental regulation and licencing of coal mine wastewater discharges are often ineffective at achieving the core objective of protecting environments from negative impacts such as water pollution. Coal mining and the discharge of mine wastewater to river systems is a widespread source of water pollution across the world, often introducing ecologically hazardous levels of salinity and contaminants such as the heavy metals nickel and zinc. Many discharges of mine wastewater to the environment are not appropriately regulated, often resulting in the degradation of water quality and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. Conditions of environmental regulation that are conducive to protecting water quality and river ecology in streams receiving wastewater have not been fully explored. This thesis explores the role of different environmental regulation conditions on water quality and river health across the Bargo River, Nepean River, and Wollangambe River in NSW, Australia, and investigates which conditions lead to effective or ineffective environmental regulation. The results from this thesis can be applied to improve the effectiveness of environmental regulation and to reduce water pollution impacts in rivers receiving coal mine and other industrial wastewater discharges

Heavy Metal Loading in Surface Sediments along the Kawere Stream, Tarkwa, Ghana

Sediment contamination by heavy metals resulting from anthropogenic activities is increasingly becoming a global concern due to the risk it poses to human well-being and ecological integrity at large. The purpose of this study was to assess the heavy metals loading in sediment along the Kawere stream. Ten sediment samples were collected, acid digested and analysed for copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co) and iron (Fe) using a Varian AA240FS Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). The Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) guidelines for freshwater sediment quality was used as the benchmark against which the measured metal concentrations were compared. Nemerow’s pollution and potential ecological risk indices were used to evaluate the pollution status and ecological risk levels of the heavy metals in the stream. The results obtained indicated that, except Cu which exceeded the ANZECC trigger value of 65 mg/kg at three sampling sites (K01=171.29 mg/kg, K05=170.83 mg/kg and K07=113.31 mg/kg), all other measured heavy metals concentrations were below their corresponding ANZECC values. Heavy metal pollution assessment showed that three samples (K01, K05 and K07) were slightly polluted, suggesting the likelihood of posing a health threat to the aquatic organisms and humans. Calculated Ecological Risk Index (RI) ranged from 3.229 to 19.750 (RI < 150), representing a low ecological risk. As such, the metals, Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Zn pose a low ecological risk to the aquatic ecosystem. Although the ecological risk is low based on the current results, constant monitoring of the stream quality is recommended due to the increasing human activities along the stream as well as the sediments ability to accumulate and remobilise heavy metals back into the water column and possibly transferring them through the food chain.   Keywords: Heavy Metals, Sediment, Ecological Risk Assessment, Pollution, Strea