Positive national water quality trend released

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Following the release last week of National River Water Quality Trends, Northland Regional Council acknowledges the effort of Northland landowners, businesses, iwi, council staff, and community groups to improve local rivers.

This release by Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA) shows that for all river water quality parameters monitored over a 10-year period, more sites were improving than deteriorating.

“Our team regularly monitors the water quality of more than 40 river sites across our region,” says Colin Dall, council’s Group Manager, Regulatory Services. “The results are freely available on the LAWA website and form part of the national trend.”

Northland Regional Council works with local landowners, businesses, iwi and the wider community, to reduce run-off and pollution into local waterways, manage river ecosystems, and maintain good water levels.

The majority of these interactions are positive and council chairman Bill Shepherd said it’s clear Northland residents care about the quality of our rivers and streams.

“Northland Regional Council carries out important work to improve the quality of our waterways and works closely with the community to achieve this. It’s important to remember all our individual solutions contribute to the bigger picture. 

“The LAWA National River Water Quality Trends are promising and I hope that people feel empowered to get involved in freshwater management, whether that’s through informed consultations and submissions, community projects, or by reducing their own water footprint.

Water quality is impacted by multiple factors. The LAWA website connects New Zealanders with environmental data so they can make informed decisions and be meaningfully engaged in solutions.

LAWA is a collaboration between Northland Regional Council and New Zealand’s other 15 Regional and Unitary Councils, Cawthron Institute, and Ministry for the Environment. It’s supported by Massey University and the Tindall Foundation.

 The National River Water Quality Trends report is available from the LAWA website, lawa.org.nz
 

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