Glossary

A guide to acronyms (and abbreviations), words and phrases used throughout the Environment Canterbury website. Look in the 'By Subject' tab to find groups of terms relevant to a specific topic.

Some terms might have definitions in addition to those in this glossary.

Use the online Māori Dictionary to help with translating words between Te Reo Māori/English.

Pā
fortified village.
Patiki
flounder.
Peketa Phenomenon
nickname for a smelly, oily substance found on the surface of water in Peketa drains, believed to be a result of natural causes.
Pest
an organism specified as a pest in a pest management strategy.
Pest management
the control of plants and animals that are having a negative impact on our natural environment.
Piezometric survey
a survey of groundwater levels across an area at a single given point in time.
Planktonic cyanobacteria
free-floating algae that are suspended in the water column of slow-moving waters such as a lake or lagoon.
Pollution Prevention Guide
step-by-step through identified environmental risk areas and assists with putting measures in place for businesses to reduce the risk associated with these.
Profile Available Water (PAW)
is the difference between field capacity and wilting point, and represents the total water available to a depth of 1 m expressed as millimetres of water.
Public notification
when a resource consent application is received by the council, we conduct an assessment of its environmental effects. If the environmental effects are more than minor, the resource consent will require public notification under Section 95A of the Resource Management Act 1991.
P
Phosphorous
pa
per annum = each year
PAH
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
PAW
Profile Available Water
PB
Planter Bag
Pb
Lead
PC
Personal Computer
PC
Proposed Change
PC
Plan Change
PCBs
polychlorinated biphenyls
PCE
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
PCP
Pentachlorophenol
PDF
Portable Document Format
PDP
Pattle Delamore Partners Limited
PFD
Personal Flotation Device
Ph
Phone or Phone number
pH
potential Hydrogen, a measure of acidity or basicity
Ph. D
Doctor of Philosophy
PIC
Potential Impact Classification
pic
picture
PIM
Project Information Memorandum
PIM
Public Information Manager
PM
Particulate Matter
pm
post meridiem = afternoon/evening
PNRRP
Proposed Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan
PO
Post Office
POPs
Persistent Organic Pollutants
pp
pages
pp
per person
PPG
Pollution Prevention Guide
ppm
parts per million
PPO
Pollution Prevention Officer
ppt
parts per thousand
PR
Public Relations
PRINZ
Public Relations Institute of New Zealand
Prof.
Professor
PSH
Probabilistic Seismic Hazard
PSRA
Phosphorus Sediment Risk Area
Pt
Part
Pt
Point
PT
Passenger Transport
PVC
Polyvinyl Chloride