Appendix 3: Methods for Assessment of Stream Freshwater Ecology Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project: Freshwater Ecological Assessment | Table 3-3. Interpretation of MCI scores. From Stark and Maxted 2007. Quality Class Descriptions MCI or MCI-sb Score Excellent Clean Water > 119 Good Doubtful quality or possible mild pollution 100 – 119 Fair Probably moderate pollution 80-99 Poor Probably severe pollution <80 Other Indices EPT taxa refers to the number of taxa present from within three generally pollution-sensitive orders of insects; Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Trichoptera (caddisflies). The caddisfly species Oxyethira and Paroxyethira were excluded from EPT calculations as they are considered to be generally pollution tolerant. Fish Index of Biotic Integrity, or Fish IBI, is calculated for use within the SEV calculator. The Fish IBI is a measure of how intact the native fish community is within a reach. Utilising a number of metrics including altitude and distance inland, and a large background of data from sites across Waikato, a number of between zero and sixty is calculated (WRC 2007; Table 2). Interpretation of QIBI is provided in Table 3-4. Table 3-4. Attributes and suggested integrity classes for the Waikato QIBI. Total QIBI Score Integrity Class Attributes 47 - 60 Excellent Comparable to the best situations without human disturbance; all regionally expected species for the stream position are present. Site is above the 75th percentile of Waikato sites. 36 - 46 Good Site is above the 50th percentile of Waikato sites but species richness and habitat or migratory access reduced. Shows some signs of stress. 27 - 35 Moderate Site is above 25th percentile. Species richness is reduced. Habitat and or access is impaired. 6 - 26 Poor Site is impacted or migratory access almost non-existent. 0 No Fish Site is grossly impacted or access non-existent.
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