Today we told the government what we think about its ‘Clean Water‘ document:

• Rivers that are ‘suitable for swimming more than 80% of the time‘ are not swimmable
• The shift of E.coli guideline to 540 per 100 mls is unacceptable
• All rivers and lakes where communities use or seek to use for recreation should be included for improvement, not just ‘large’ ones
• Residues of pesticides and hydrocarbons need to be included as additional attributes for determining ecological and human health risks of waterways
• The life-supporting capacity of our waterways and the rights of communities and future generations to adequate and clean water must not be compromised by so-called economic arguments
• National bottom lines for freshwater must not be breached because of polluting infrastructure
• Support, not penalize, tangata whenua efforts in protecting the health of our waterways
• Exclude stock from waterways, reduce stock number and halt further dairy conversion for the sake of clean water, ecosystem health and livable climate
• Honour Te Mana o te Wai and invest in responsible and sustainable alternatives

Read our submission here with the case of the Waitara River.