Assembly and strain information for 500 genomes sourced from the New Zealand environment

<i>Escherichia coli</i> is often used as a faecal indicator bacterium for water quality monitoring. We report the draft genome sequences of 500 <i>Escherichia</i> isolates including newly described <i>Escherichia</i> species: namely <i>Escherichia marmotae</i>, <i>Escherichia ruysiae</i> and <i>Escherichia whittamii</i>, obtained from diverse environmental sources to assist with improved public health risk assessments.