Two-thirds of NZ rivers in poor health — research

September 26, 2021

The result comes despite recent efforts to improve their quality.

Two-thirds of New Zealand’s rivers are in poor health despite recent efforts to improve their quality, according to a new scientific summary.

While many urban waterways appear clean at first glance, the rivers running through our towns and cities are the most contaminated in the country.

“Things have stayed pretty much static over the last sort of five or six years," Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) steering group chairman Dr Tim Davie said.

"There hasn't been a lot of change which is, I'd have to say, a bit disappointing because of the amount of effort that's going on.” 

Scientists have been out taking samples from 1500 sites nationwide.

“What we're looking for in this sample is the concentrations of nutrients, so nitrogen and phosphorus,” the Freshwater Implementation Group’s James Palmer explained.

Urban waterway (file photo).

The new summary , published on Sunday, found two-thirds of all monitored river sites in the country suffer from impaired ecological health, meaning we have yet to make progress despite years of discussions.

The worst river sites are in urban areas, followed by pastures, then exotic forests.

Two-thirds also show poor results for E. coli — an indicator of faecal bacterial contamination.

However, much of the work being done is long-term.

It’s hoped efforts to remove livestock from rural waterways, alongside large-scale replanting efforts, will eventually improve river health.

“We've taken well over 100 years to get our freshwater river bodies into the state that they're in, and it's going to take decades of hard work to restore them,” Environment Canterbury's Jarred Arthur said.

But renewed effort is also needed in urban areas and there are many things individuals can do to help.

“If you were to get non-copper brake pads for your car, that helps these streams enormously,” Davie added.

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