NZ’s waters need more care and attention

THANK you Jane Smith, (ODT letters, 16.9.17) for letting us know that Five Forks locals still swim in the Kakanui River at Clifton Falls, and for rightfully reminding us that anglers and tourists may also have a role in the national decline in water quality. Niall Watson (ODT letters, same date), reiterates his angler’s perspective on the same issue.

Clifton Falls, where the Kakanui River emerges from the high country and traditionally has had good water quality, is not the location where I learned to swim as a kid at Five Forks School in 1958. We had our lessons and our swimming races in the Kakanui River across the paddock behind the school; we also swam and learned to dive in the big pool below the Fuschia Creek bridge. The latter site is several kilometres downstream from Clifton Falls, at the point where nitrateenriched groundwater is starting to rejoin the river after being lost into the Five Forks aquifer. It is also downstream of the Fuschia Creek confluence, where water quality has been recognised as somewhat challenged in the past. If I were to dive into that big pool again, I would take care to keep my mouth closed.

The data from an ORC report in 2013 clearly shows that intensification of agriculture has an adverse influence on water quality in the lower Kakanui River. If farming practices have altered sufficiently since then to reverse the decline noted in the report, then I compliment those responsible. As Jane Smith says, the rural community is working to improve water quality: this to me suggests the work is needed.

I also acknowledge that urban water quality is not always the best. It is clear that New Zealand’s waters need more care and attention than they have been receiving. As many correspondents have noted, we need to use our votes carefully to ensure that this happens. Ian Turnbull Lake Hawea [Abridged]

BILL English has praised the work of the Land and Water Forum and its support for the Government’s good work on fresh water issues. When established, the forum comprised groups from farming, business, environment and government sectors. He has made no mention that four national environmental groups have now left the forum: Fish & Game, ECO (Environment and Conservation Organisations), Forest & Bird, and most recently, Federated Mountain Clubs.

These NGOs are the strongest advocates for the protection of our fresh waters and left because of the Government’s selective implementation of the forum’s recommendations. Without their presence the forum no longer represents a range of views. Its recommendations are seen to represent the views of farming, industry and the Government. Warren Jowett St Clair

FARMERS could reduce the cost of water used in irrigation if they did their watering at night, instead of during the day. During the day, an immense amount of irrigation water is wasted in evaporation. Just ask anyone who has driven on State Highway 1 between Dunedin and Christchurch and has seen the gigantic water plumes stretching over the farmland. Margaret Bahr Andersons Bay

BIBLE READING: Seek good, not evil, that you may love. — Amos 5.14.