Warning Over River Water Quality
Drinking from New Zealand rivers is like playing Russian roulette, health authorities have warned as Cantabrians urge the Government to clean up the country’s rivers and better manage water resources.
Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton and Environment Minister Marian Hobbs yesterday released five reports on the nation’s water resources, after a national round of meetings with the public, Maori and local authorities in February.
Among the responses from a meeting in Christchurch were submissions urging the Government to require most major rivers to “meet world health standards”.
Yesterday, Canterbury health protection officer Geoff O’Brien said health authorities warned people not to drink from any rivers or lakes.
“You have to assume that all surface water in New Zealand will be contaminated to the point where it’s going to have an impact on a person’s health,” he said. “Thirty years ago, you could probably drink water in some upland rivers and lakes without being too worried about getting something. Now it’s like Russian roulette.”
Potential contaminants included giardia, cryptosporidium, salmonella, hepatitis and norovirus.
In addition to water quality, the Canterbury submissions focused on urgent problems relating to water allocation and management.
There are several water-use issues facing the South Island, including competing demands from irrigators, recreational users and power companies.
In the Waitaki, the Waitaki Water Allocation Board is hearing submissions on an allocation plan for the catchment.
Last month, dairy giant Lynton Dairy Ltd appeared in the Christchurch Environment Court in a bid to overturn an Environment Canterbury (ECan) decision to decline water-allocation resource consent for its new central Canterbury dairy farm. It is just one of several farms in the area seeking more water from a limited resource.
New dairy player Synlait has lodged an application with ECan for permission to take water from the Rakaia River, although it sits in the middle of a “red zone” that ECan believes is fully allocated.
ECan papers show most of the region’s waterways are contaminated as a result of direct discharges or through groundwater contamination. Some are unsuitable for even recreational contact.
A summary of the Government’s national consultation identifies eight issues and 13 areas for action to improve management and quality of the New Zealand’s freshwater resources.
Issues include a need to improve strategic planning for water management, a failure of infrastructure development to keep pace with water demand, and over-allocation of water in some catchments.
Action includes developing national environmental standards for water, enhancing the ability of water users to transfer allocated water to other users, and enabling regional councils to allocate water to “priority uses”.
The consultation round was part of the Government’s Sustainable Water Programme of Action. Hobbs and Sutton said the feedback would be the basis for work on improving the management, quality and allocation of freshwater.