Hon Trevor Mallard - 28/11/2007
- Two new reports about New Zealand’s lake
and ground water quality show that while our
fresh water quality is good in many areas,
we still face challenges to keep some of our
water bodies clean, Environment Minister Trevor
Mallard said today.
"These technical reports are important
because they provide us with real information
about the state and trends of New Zealand’s
fresh water. They show that much of New Zealand’s
lake and ground water quality is good, but
that some of our water bodies have poor water
quality, particularly where there is a lot
of farming land. This must be addressed if
we want to be a sustainable nation and continue
to leverage off New Zealand's clean green
reputation in international markets.
"We all have to make an effort to keep
New Zealand’s water clean. One of the biggest
challenges is for the agriculture sector to
improve farm practices, and to do this quickly,"
Trevor Mallard said.
The new reports called ‘Lake water quality
in New Zealand: status in 2006 and recent
trends (11000-2006)’ and ‘Groundwater quality
in New Zealand: state and trends (1995-2006)’,
published by the Ministry for the Environment,
indicate that:
while 60 per cent of our lakes have good
water quality, about 30 per cent are likely
to have poor water quality because of excessive
nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) levels.
about one third of our monitored groundwater
has elevated nitrogen levels and 20 per cent
shows signs of contamination by faecal matter
where catchments are dominated by intensive
land uses, such as farming or urban development,
lakes have levels of nutrients several times
higher than lakes in natural catchments.
Common sources of nutrient and faecal pollution
are livestock, fertilisers, human wastewater
disposal (such as discharges from septic tanks)
and stormwater runoff.
Agriculture has the most widespread impact
on water quality because it is the most dominant
land use in New Zealand - it occupies almost
40 per cent of our total land area.
"Intensified farming is affecting the
recreational value and life-supporting capacity
of our water bodies. We have been encouraged
that many in the dairy industry are acting
to improve their practices. Now we need to
see the whole agricultural sector take greater
responsibility for its environmental impacts,"
Trevor Mallard said.
The government is working with the primary
sectors (including meat and beef, dairy and
horticulture) on commitments to improve environmental
performance through voluntary initiatives
such as the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord
and Dairy Environment Strategy.
Other support and government initiatives
to improve water quality are outlined below.
The reports are available at:
www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/ser/lake-water-quality-status-trends-aug07/
www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/ser/groundwater-quality-trends-aug07/
Government initiatives to improve water quality
The government has been working with councils
and other stakeholders (through the Sustainable
Water Programme of Action) to address any
barriers to managing fresh water quality.
As a result, the Ministry for the Environment
is working on national environmental tools
including a national policy statement on freshwater
management and national environmental standards
on
water measuring devices to help provide more
accurate information about water use.
sources of human drinking water. This standard,
to be introduced next year, is intended to
reduce the risk of contaminating drinking
water sources.
methods for setting ecological flows and water
levels. This is to promote consistency in
the way we decide whether there is sufficient
variability and quantity of water flowing
in rivers, groundwater systems, lakes and
wetlands. A public discussion document will
go out next year
Significant government funding has been targeted
at improving water quality, such as the substantial
funds to restore/preserve the water quality
of iconic lakes such as Taupo and the Rotorua
lakes.
The Government’s commitment to state of environment
monitoring and reporting helps to improve
our understanding of the state of our water
and the causes of pollution which in turn
helps inform policy development.
The Ministry for Health’s sanitary works
subsidy scheme aims to help communities upgrade
or build new sewerage systems or treatment
plants. The Ministry also has a drinking water
assistance programme of similar funding size
to help community water suppliers upgrade
their drinking water quality treatment.
The government’s $175 million Sustainable
Land Management and Climate Change Programme
of Action will also contribute to improved
water quality. This includes help for primary
sectors to reduce emissions and adapt to climate
change through such initiatives as research
into the mitigation potential of nitrous oxide
technologies and demonstrating new mitigation
technologies and practices through model farms.
