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.

Sand bar
a long, narrow bank of sand usually at a river mouth
Siltation
the pollution of water by earthy matter and fine sand being carried by moving or running water and deposited as a sediment. It can cause waterways to become murky, disrupting aquatic life.
Soil
means the loose material on the earth’s surface in which terrestrial plants grow and includes sand, silts, clays and any intermixed organic material.
Soil conservation
avoiding, remedying, or mitigating soil erosion and maintaining the physical, chemical and biological qualities of the soil.
Stormwater
when rainwater falls onto a hard, sealed, impermeable surface (such as roofs, roads, and driveways), it cannot soak into the ground. Instead, it runs off the surface. This runoff is called stormwater.
Strong earthquake
an earthquake where the shaking is so strong that it is hard to stand up—the sort of earthquake where furniture starts moving around and things fall over.
Surface water or surface water body
means water above the ground surface and within a lake, river, artificial watercourse or wetland, but does not include water in the sea, snow or rain or water vapour in the air.
Swale
means a shallow depression on the land surface, that is covered in grass or other vegetation, that is natural or man-made and that serves to collect and drain overland stormwater runoff.
Swimming season
November to March.
Swimming water quality grades
each bathing site is given an overall suitability for recreation grade at the start of each summer. These grades do not change over the swimming season and should be used to determine whether a particular site is suitable for swimming. Sites graded as: Very good, good and fair are considered suitable for contact recreation, however there may be exceptions during certain times (eg after heavy rainfall); Poor and very poor are generally considered unsuitable for contact recreation. Swimming water quality grades do not consider risks from the presence of potentially toxic cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria warnings override the usual water quality grades for swimming.
Swing moorings
are generally concrete blocks positioned on the sea bed with a series of chains attached to a buoy which floats on the water. The top chain or rope is attached to the vessel. Currents, wind and weather conditions affect the way vessels ‘swing’ around their mooring blocks.
s
second
s
section
S
South
SAG
Statutory Agencies Group
SBN
Sustainable Business Network
SC
South Canterbury
SDC
Selwyn District Council
SDS
Safety Data Sheet
SE
South-East
sec
second
Sep
September
Sept
September
SFRG
Suitability For Recreation Grade
SF₆
Sulfur Hexafluoride
SG
Shellfish Gathering
SH
State Highway
SIA
Social Impact Assessment
SIDDC
South Island Dairy Development Centre
SIDE
South Island Dairy Event
SMF
Sustainable Management Fund
SMS
Safety Management System
Soc
Society
SODR
Summary of Decisions Requested
SOLGM
Society of Local Government Managers
SO₂
Sulfur Dioxide
SO₄
Sulfate
SPBL
Selwyn Plantation Board Limited
SPD
Station Peak Dairies Limited
SPI
Submerged Plant Indicator
Sq
Square
sqm
square metre(s)
SSW
South-southwest
SSWI
Sites of Special Wildlife Interest
St
Saint
St
Street
Std dev
Standard deviation
Sth
South
STMS
Site Traffic Management Supervisor
Strm
Stream
su
stock units
SW
South-West
SW
Stormwater
SW
Surface Water
SWH
Significant Wave Height