12 April 2015

State of Environment Summary for March

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s state of the environment summary report for March describes the month as a toned down version of February. The monthly summary report was collated by Dr Kathleen Kozyniak, HBRC’s air quality scientist, using data from regional monitoring sites. It is available online at http://www.hbrc.govt.nz/Services/Environmental-Sciences/SOE/soe-monthly-reports/Pages/default.aspx

March was warmer than usual and drier than usual, “but not to the same turbo-charged extent as the previous month,” Dr Kozyniak comments in the report, referring to the record temperatures of February.

Rainfall was below normal across Hawke’s Bay during March, while on the Ruataniwha Plains, it was even drier as rainfall totals fell below half the monthly average. River flows showed a similar region-wide story of sagging below the long term mean, and although groundwater results were mixed, levels were also generally below normal for this time of the year.

“Soil moisture however is reasonably good going into autumn, thanks to a brief thunderous deluge at the end of the month,” says Dr Kozyniak.

Water quality at monitored swimming beaches was generally good and met recreational water quality standards.

At the end of every month Hawke’s Bay Regional Council environmental science team produces a state of the environment summary report using data from HBRC’s monitoring sites. The information is provided to sector groups and organisations in the region. Each summary is available online at http://www.hbrc.govt.nz/Services/Environmental-Sciences/SOE/soe-monthly-reports/Pages/default.aspx

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