Recreational Water Quality Assessment
Using the guidelines set out by the Ministry for the Environment, Marlborough District Council has undertaken a beach grading project. This project has been put in place to help improve public awareness with regard to health issues when bathing. Major recreational areas in the Marlborough region, both marine and freshwater, were assessed in 2003 to obtain an overall suitability for recreation grade (SFRG). This grade takes into consideration factors such as agricultural use in the catchment, annual rainfall figures, water uses (marina, boat moorings etc.) and human activity. It couples this information with the water quality data of that particular area from the past five years, which identifies the level of Enterococci (marine) or Escherichia coli bacteria (freshwater) in the water.
Click HERE for the latest weekly results of the coastal beach water quality tests for the 2008/2009 summer season.
Click HERE for the latest weekly results of the freshwater quality tests for the 2008/2009 summer season.
Click to see the grades, information, maps and/or photographs for a marine or freshwater site. Not all sites are monitored every year. If there is no graph with the site map and information, this is because the site is not being monitored on a weekly basis. These sites will be updated when further information is available.
For more information on the Recreational Water Quality Assessment Process, or on the meaning of SFRG, please visit http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/water/microbiological-quality-jun03/ and read the guidelines.
For information about the national state of bathing water quality please visit http://www.mfe.govt.nz/state/reporting/recreational-water/index.html
