Government Ignores Waterway Clean-Up Recommendations

New Zealand river and lake water quality has declined over the past 20 years. (Diane Cordemans/Epoch Times)

Watering down freshwater management rules will stymie progress in the clean up of New Zealand’s rivers and lakes, says the Green Party today.

The decline in water quality in New Zealand has been attributed to the intensification of land use by nearly every report, says Green co-leader Russel Norman, in a press release.

“Many New Zealanders may be surprised to learn that nearly half of our monitored rivers are unsafe for swimming and that two-thirds of our native freshwater fish are threatened or at risk,” he said.

The finalised National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS) has removed a provision from the draft NPS that required farmers wishing to adopt intensive farming practices to obtain a resource consent, says Babs Lake, Political and Media Advisor.

That NPS draft provision would have been a big step forward in purifying national waterways, says Mr. Norman.

Without the provisions, regional councils will no longer be forced to regulate land use intensification.

The government has ignored recommendations from a group of 58 stakeholders as well as its own Board of Inquiry, said Mr Norman.

Nick Smith, Minister of the Environment, concedes that while freshwater resources in New Zealand are amongst the cleanest in the world, there are some areas where both the quality and quantity of water need addressing.

The NPS is “just a first step in the complex process of improving fresh water management” he said from the Beehive.

With regard to resource consents the NPS states that regional councils must take into account the potential adverse effects of activities that relate to water resources. These activites are to be thoroughly examined to see if they fall within a specific criteria, pending the inclusion of limits in the plan.

 The NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) website says, “There is no doubt that our declining river water quality over the last 20 years is associated with intensification of pastoral farming and the conversion of drystock farmland to dairy farming, particularly in Waikato, Southland, and Canterbury.

“Many rivers show excessive nutrients, reduced visual clarity due to suspended sediments, and pollution by faecal bacteria, says NIWA Freshwater scientist Rob Davies-Colley.