Water Nitrate

AUS-ASC-LVG-WNI General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

0.015 mg/L

Direction: Lower is desirable ↓

Form: MaximumOnly

Scoring Curve

Scoring curve unavailable

The scoring engine could not generate a curve for this benchmark context. The primary form is CompositeFramework, but the benchmark data may be missing required fields (e.g., optimal range bounds for an OptimalRange benchmark). This is typically a data quality issue in the benchmark pipeline.

Contributing Benchmarks

CompositeFramework Primary MaximumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard UpperThreshold Guard OptimalRange Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard MaximumOnly Guard CompositeFramework Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard

Evidence & Context

The recommended reference benchmark for water nitrate in Australian Alpine and Subalpine Complex biomes, where the land is utilized for livestock grazing and pasture under best-practice management aimed at achieving high environmental health, is <0.015 mg/L (expressed as NOx-N).

Metric Definition:

Water nitrate concentration expressed as Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx-N), predominantly nitrate-N in oxygenated waters.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the maximum recommended water nitrate concentration for alpine and subalpine grazing lands in Australia, indicating best-practice management for high environmental health.

Justification:

This value is derived from the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZECC & ARMCANZ 2000), specifically the default trigger values for upland rivers (>150m altitude) considered 'slightly to moderately disturbed'. It represents a pragmatic and measurable target for best available condition in managed landscapes.

Sources (1)

Preview of Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZECC & ARMCANZ 2000) - Default trigger values for physical and chemical stressors for south-east Australia; Upland rivers. As cited in: Peet Limited (undated). Googong Urban Development Environmental Impact Statement - Chapter 7 Water Quality and Hydrology.

Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZECC & ARMCANZ 2000) - Default trigger values for physical and chemical stressors for south-east Australia; Upland rivers. As cited in: Peet Limited (undated). Googong Urban Development Environmental Impact Statement - Chapter 7 Water Quality and Hydrology.

View Source

Supporting Sources (1)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (2000), accessed May 11, 2025,

Direct Evidence Journal

Northern Territory Government (2020) Darwin Harbour Region Water Quality Objectives, Report Card Section 3.0.

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Alpine and Subalpine Complex
Land Use Livestock Grazing & Pasture
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Superseded
Version 1
Effective From 2 Jun 2026
Effective To 2 Jun 2026

Notes

The benchmark of <0.015 mg/L NOx-N is positioned at the most stringent end of the optimal range for maintaining high ecological health. Persistent exceedance indicates increasing ecological risk. Values up to <0.1 mg/L N may still indicate good health in well-managed systems. Lower critical threshold is not defined as a concern in this context. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-ASC-LVG-WNI family.