River target short of ‘aspiration’

A goal of having 70 per cent of Manawatu¯ -Whanganui rivers clean enough for swimming by 2030 is above what regional council officials have recommended, but still falls short of national targets.

All regional councils have to have a draft target in place this month for how many rivers will be suitable for swimming by then, before confirming their targets in December.

What makes a river suitable comes down to criteria in the national policy statement for freshwater management, which wants 80 per cent of New Zealand’s rivers and lakes to be ‘‘swimmable’’ by 2030.

Horizons Regional Council strategy and regulation group manager Dr Nic Peet told councillors at a meeting on Tuesday that previous Environment Minister Nick Smith set the target requirement.

However, the definition of ‘‘swimmable’’ was solely down to E coli – something Peet described as ‘‘very narrow’’.

Rivers were also required to be clean enough for swimming all year round, despite the fact there were many areas where people would not be keen to swim all the time, Peet said.

A report put to the council recommended 60 per cent ‘‘swimmability’’ as a draft target.

Peet said that was ‘‘conservative’’, based on projections of where things would get with the council’s programme of work.

‘‘It makes sense to have that as a draft target.’’

The policy statement could change with the new Government, but it was too early to say if there would be more funding from it, Peet said.

Natural resources and partnerships group manager Dr Jon Roygard said an extra issue was the fact swim spots had to be clean enough all year round.

He used the Manawatu¯ River at the old teacher’s college site, just north of the Fitzherbert Ave bridge in Palmerston North, as an example. If river flows were low, it was a great place to swim, but if river levels sped up then that changed.

Councillor John Barrow was happy with the 60 per cent target, as it linked in with the work the council was already doing.

There was no point setting a higher target if officials did not know how to get there, he said. ‘‘To be blunt, this effectively One Plan: Part Two. One Plan [the council’s natural resources management plan] is nitrogen, but this is about E coli.’’

However, he was worried data that showed the cost of mitigating runoff in rural communities seemed to be focused on sheep and beef farmers.

Councillor Lindsay Burnell was also happy with a 60 per cent target, but said there was not enough emphasis on reducing stormwater pollution. He noted the problems Auckland had with sewage when it rained heavily, closing several beaches this summer. ‘‘I just see what goes into Lake Horowhenua. That’s a relatively small sample of what is happening elsewhere.’’

Councillor Wiremu Te Awe Awe said he wanted the target to be at 70 per cent, but for the council to try to get past it. ‘‘It is better to aim high and try to get there, than aim low and not get there at all.’’

After a motion to set the draft target at 80 per cent did not pass, councillor Rachel Keedwell implored her fellow councillors to be aspirational. ‘‘The Government didn’t wait for us to figure it out, they knew to put the pressure on and we would find a way. I’ll be embarrassed to go back to the community and say that this council did not support 70 or 80 per cent.’’

The council then passed a 70 per cent draft target.