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This paper presents the results of the latest calibrations of the CLUES model for each of total nitrogen, total phosphorus and Escherichia coli. The model provides estimates of in-stream annual loads of these contaminants for every river reach in the New Zealand River Environments Classification and has been used in New Zealand for catchment planning and policy development. CLUES has been calibrated nationally against loads estimated from data collected from water quality monitoring stations located across the country which could lead to parameter bias. To ascertain whether there is any systematic bias, the calibration residuals were evaluated against regional (geographical) location and a range of upstream catchment characteristics, namely land use, soil drainage properties, slope, network order, proportion of baseflow in total stream flow, climate, geology and source of flow. We found that CLUES gives reasonable load estimates at the catchment scale (Nash-Sutcliff efficiencies >0.8 for all the contaminants). However, there was significant uncertainty in the parameterisation. While several significant relationships were found between upstream catchment characteristics and the model residuals, these relationships were weak and are unlikely to point to any systematic bias in the calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We present a study that provides a contemporary view of alcohol-related injury prevalence amongst patients presenting to a New Zealand (NZ) emergency department (ED).Methods: Adult injury patients presenting to Auckland City Hospital ED within 6 h of injury were invited to participate during three recruitment periods (2015-2016). An interviewer-administered questionnaire obtained information on demographic, injury, general health, and lifestyle factors. Breath alcohol samples were obtained. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted.Results: 501 patients participated (71% response rate), 21% had consumed alcohol within 6 h of their injury. The majority were male, and overall falls were the most common mechanism of injury among all patients. Alcohol-related injuries most commonly occurred at home, and were significantly more likely to occur during the weekend (Friday-Sunday) and night hours (23:00-06:59). After controlling for the effects of confounding; 'poor' general health, engaging in leisure activities at the time of injury, and injuries resulting from assaults were associated with increasing the odds of alcohol-related injury.Conclusions: Acute alcohol use continues to play a considerable role in ED injury presentations in NZ. Continued policy, health promotion, and injury prevention efforts are required to reduce the harms associated with alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]