Concern at quality of rural water
‘‘While economic wellbeing is necessary for good health . . . assets such as drinking water quality, are also fundamental to health.’’
Canterbury District Health Board submission
The Canterbury District Health Board wants Environment Canterbury to extend the protection zones for Seadown and Pleasant Point’s drinking water supplies, amid concerns about water quality.
The concerns come as Environment Canterbury confirmed it was planning to look more closely at water quality in the two areas,
The CDHB raised its concerns in a submission on ECan’s proposed Plan Change 7, which sets out new rules for the region’s water quality.
The CDHB criticised the proposed plan as it ‘‘has the potential to have a contradictory range of affects on the health and wellbeing of the wider community’’.
‘‘While economic wellbeing is necessary for good health, social, recreational, cultural and environmental assets such as drinking water quality, are also fundamental to health,’’ CDHB’s submission says.
In the proposed PC7, ‘‘nitrate hotspots’’ (areas over-allocated and with nitrate levels above the maximum allowable) are identified.
These areas include Rangitata-Orton, Levels Plains and the Fairlie Basin.
The plan proposes that, over time, consent-holders in those areas will have to reduce the level of nitrates in the water.
The CDHB wants ECan to extend the Levels Plains area to include the drinking water supplies for Pleasant Point and Seadown.
‘‘There have been test results from these supplies that have exceeded 50 per cent of the maximum acceptable values for the drinking water standards in New Zealand. Including these protection zones is essential to mitigate the known health risks associated with elevated nitrates in drinking water.’’
The CDHB expressed concern at the rate of nitrate-nitrogen allowed in private wells under the plan, saying ‘‘whether the drinking water is sourced from a private or community supply should be irrelevant as the impact on the individual consuming the water is identical’’.
Speaking to The Timaru Herald about the submission, medical officer of health Dr Ramon Pink said the CDHB wanted ‘‘to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to maintain or even improve the quality of groundwater for drinking water use’’.
‘‘High levels of nitrate can pose a risk to babies less than six months old who are formula fed and the unborn foetus of pregnant women. Adults with specific rare metabolic disorders may also be at risk.’’
He noted that the Seadown and Pleasant Point drinking water zones were ‘‘within the acceptable levels given by the Drinking Water Standards’’. However, if stronger measures were not taken, nitrate levels could increase.
‘‘Typical sources of nitrate include fertilisers, animal wastes, particularly in areas of intensified farming, unreticulated sewage disposal systems, industrial waste and food processing waste. Nitrate is highly soluble in water, making it readily transported through the soil to groundwater,’’ Pink said.
Asked whether there had been a decline in Pleasant Point and Seadown’s water quality, ECan groundwater science manager Carl Hanson said: ‘‘This is something we’re looking into in more detail.
‘‘We need more scientific information to assess the long-term groundwater flow patterns in this area.’’