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Download AudioGreenpeace is to offer people in Canterbury free water testing this month to highlight the lack of protection for water quality.
Freshwater campaigner Will Applebe says the health of freshwater has been in decline for decades, but the latest report back on the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill shows even more critical protections are being stripped out.
This includes the concept of te mana o te wai, which prioritises the health of freshwater ecosystems and access to safe drinking water ahead of polluting industries like intensive dairy.
“Regional councils won’t even be allowed to use te mana o te wai or the hierarchy of obligations when considering resource consents. New Zealand’s freshwater protections are not perfect but right now they’re the only things standing between lakes, rivers and drinking water and those polluting industries like dairy farming,” Mr Appelbe says.
Greenpeace testing of three town supplies in North Canterbury earlier this year showed they were above 5 milligrams per litre of nitrate – the level at which the New Zealand College of Midwives warns can increase the risk of pre-term birth for pregnant people who drink this water.
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