`Assessing the biological quality of fresh waters: RIVPACS and other techniques', edited by John F. Wright, David W. Sutcliffe and Mike T. Furse.
`Assessing the biological quality of fresh waters: RIVPACS and other techniques', edited by John F. Wright, David W. Sutcliffe and Mike T. Furse. Published by the Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, June 2000. ISBN 0 900386 62 2. 400 pages. Price £40 softback, £60 hardback (including p. & p.).

RIVPACS - New Zealand

Freshwater ecologists at CEH in the UK pioneered the RIVPACS type approach. However it has been trialled, and in some cases adopted, in many countries seeking to establish a national or regional freshwater bioassessment scheme.

Changes to New Zealand legislation in the early 1990s shifted the emphasis of water management from chemical water quality to the broader assessment of aquatic ecosystem health.

Macroinvertebrate-based indices are currently used in the routine monitoring of rivers and streams but recently there have been successful pilot studies using the RIVPACS type approach within certain regions or water sheds. Indeed the approach has been applied to fish and macrocrustaceans as well as macroinvertebrates.