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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 (1990-2006)’ 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 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.