Government improves water quality monitoring
“An important part of the Government’s strategy to address fresh water quality is improving the standard and frequency of monitoring”, Environment Minister Nick Smith said today in addressing Fish & Game New Zealand’s annual staff conference.
“It is true that we manage what measure, and there has been insufficient consistent data collection on freshwater quality despite it being one of New Zealand’s most valuable and important resources.”
“This deficiency was exposed in the 2007 New Zealand State of the Environment Report, the new Government is determined to have the work done to enable more accurate reporting for the next State of the Environment report.”
Dr Smith released the 2008/09 Update on Freshwater Recreational Water Quality and the baseline report on Water Quality in Selected Dairy Farming Catchments.
“The data from the last two summaries show that 58% of monitored freshwater swimming spots met the guidelines over 95% of the time where as 8% of sites breached the guidelines more than 25% of the time. This level of non-compliance is not acceptable and highlights the need for a concerted effect to improve recreational water quality.”
“There is a significant water quality issue emerging in areas of intensive farming, particularly dairying. The baseline report on water quality in those farming catchments is a valuable tool in monitoring the effectiveness of programmes like the Clean Streams Accord to tackle water quality impacts. It is no surprise that the report identifies degraded water quality in these areas and reinforces the need for further Government initiatives.”
This latest data reinforces the importance of the work on fresh water management by the Land and Water Forum announced by the Government last month. We need a collaborative approach that engages farmers, iwi, recreationalists and environmentalists in finding solutions to this important issue of fresh water quality.
For copies of the full reports, go to:
www.mfe.govt.nz/environmental-reporting/freshwater/recreational/results.html
Additional Information
New Start for Fresh Water
On 8 June 2009, the Government announced its strategy New Start for Fresh Water. It outlines the Government’s new direction for water management in New Zealand and sets out some of the choices the country faces and the implications of those choices. A subsequent paper will outline a programme of work to run until 2011 and beyond. For more information see www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/water/freshwater/new-start-fresh-water.html
Existing environmental initiatives being undertaken by the dairy industry and regulators to manage the effects of dairying include: the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord; the Dairy Industry Strategy for Sustainable Environmental Management; and the Primary Sector Water Partnership.
The Ministry reports released today:
Water quality in selected dairy farming catchments: A baseline to support future water quality trend assessments
This reports on water quality in 14 selected dairying catchments in New Zealand. It establishes a baseline against which future changes can be measured. Data was provided by regional councils and Fonterra and these agencies, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, reviewed the report.
The report confirms that water quality is degraded in dairy catchments. The signs of degradation are consistent with recent reports from resource management agencies and regional and national state of environment reporting (ie, that streams in lowland, pastoral catchments have poorer water quality than unmodified streams). As discussed in the report, it is likely that this degradation is not solely from dairying in all cases as some catchments have mixed land uses. See http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/land/water-quality-selected-dairying-farming-catchments/index.html for more information.
Web update of freshwater recreational water quality
This update covers bacterial water quality data for about 300 rivers and lakes for the 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 summers. The data is reported against the Microbiological Water Quality Guidelines for Marine and Freshwater Recreational Areas, a health-based guideline used to determine whether or not a site is safe for recreational use.
Of those freshwater swimming spots that were monitored over the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 summers, 58 per cent had bacterial water quality suitable for recreational use almost all of the time. Eight per cent had water quality that was often unsuitable for swimming.
Nationwide, recreational water quality at monitored freshwater sites has been relatively stable over the last six years. See www.mfe.govt.nz/environmental-reporting/freshwater/recreational/results.html for more information.