Freshwater

How do agricultural activities impact water quality and mahinga kai?

The horticulture industry cultivates fruits, vegetables, and flowers for the domestic and international export market.

Plantation forestry has become one of Aotearoa's largest natural resource industries.

We have drawn on new developments in statistical modelling based on machine learning to develop environment-based models describing the distributions of thirty native fish species.

Different land uses and point source discharges can cause a variety of environmental impacts on water quality and mahinga kai.

A resource consent is typically required when taking, damming, or diverting water.

Crops grown for agricultural purposes are mostly produced for animal feed.

The most common agricultural activities in Aotearoa are dairy, cropping, sheep, and beef farming.

This project will demonstrate the commercial feasibility of producing bio-oil by the conversion of algae biomass that has been grown in wastewater treatment facilities. In particular we aim to maximise algae production in High Rate Algal Ponds (HRAP) by adding carbon dioxide, and demonstrate energy efficient conversion of algal biomass to bio-oil.

Estuaries are highly valuable systems that provide enormous economic and cultural benefits to all kinds of people. However, expanding human populations and urban development around estuaries is increasing contaminant loads, with metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) accumulating in sediments.