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

Persistent exceedance of 0.015 mg/L NOx-N indicates a departure from the best available condition and an increase in ecological risk.

Metric Definition:

Water nitrate concentration expressed as NOx-N indicating ecological risk threshold.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the upper detrimental threshold for water nitrate concentration beyond which ecological risk increases in alpine and subalpine grazing systems.

Justification:

Based on ANZECC (2000) trigger values for upland rivers and ecological understanding of alpine ecosystem sensitivity to nitrate.

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.

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.

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Supporting Sources (1)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

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

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Context

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

Lifecycle

  • Status Active
  • Version 2
  • Effective From 2 Jun 2026

Notes

Exceeding this threshold suggests increasing ecological risk and departure from high environmental health in alpine/subalpine grazing systems. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

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

— mg/L Moderate
Livestock Grazing & Pasture · Not Stated
OptimalRange Active v1
— mg/L Low
Livestock Grazing & Pasture · Not Stated
CompositeFramework Active v1
0.015 mg/L Moderate
Livestock Grazing & Pasture · Not Stated
MaximumOnly Superseded v1