Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – Wellington

Forest & Bird media release for immediate use

Freshwater quality improvement needed now

Independent conservation organisation Forest & Bird said today a report by the Auditor General is further evidence the urgent action is needed to halt the rapid decline in New Zealand’s water quality.

"The evidence keeps piling up showing our lowland rivers are mostly unfit to swim in and many of our freshwater fish and other species are on the road to extinction,” Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Nicola Vallance said.

"The science is in and we know there's a huge problem and what we must do to address it," she said.

"What we need now is the government to step up fast and place clear limits on the major contributors to this pollution."

The Auditor General’s report, released yesterday, said there was justified concern about freshwater quality, particularly in lowland areas used mainly for farming. Preventing further declines was preferable to spending large amounts of money to restore waterways.

"The findings of the Auditor General mirrors those of recent work by the Cawthron Institute, the Land and Water Forum, and the OECD, all of which show the continuing degradation of our lowland streams and rivers," Nicola Vallance said.

The voluntary Clean Streams Accord, which has been running since 2003, has not adequately addressed declining freshwater quality. It showed that in the 2009/2010 year 16 percent of all farmers were still guilty of significant non-compliance with effluent discharge conditions.

Although the rate of serious non compliance rose in the 22009/20020 Clean Streams Accord snapshot from the previous year, the number of prosecutions by regional councils actually went down.

Many councils have shown an unwillingness to prosecute breaches of planning rules and the Auditor General’s report highlighted the problem of elected councillors getting involved in decisions on whether to prosecute. To avoid conflicts of interest, these decisions must be made by non-elected officials, it said.

"Because we continue to rely on voluntary measures which have yet to produce significant improvements to our freshwater, the internationally recognised Waituna wetland in Southland is facing the imminent risk of being destroyed, and taxpayers are paying millions of dollars to clean up areas like Lake Taupo and Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere)," Nicola Vallance said.

"The current system is not working, we are fiddling while Rome burns.

"The decline of our freshwater is undermining our clean, green brand and threatening our economy, as well as the health of our environment and the species – including us – that rely on it.”

ENDS

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