Last week the Minister for the Environment put forward the Clean Water Plans for New Zealand.
What a joke that was!
The plan is to have 90% of rivers and lakes swimmable by 2040. That’s gone up by 10 years. From my understanding it was going to be cleaning them up by 2030, but now, again, the goal posts have been shifted.
Well, Massey University freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy says the Government is “trying to pull a swifty” with its new swimmable waterways plan.
You see it’s all about how much E-coli (and other stuff) is in the water. This is how I understand it:
540 E.coli/100mls of water gives the swimmer a 1 in 20 chance of getting sick. However, the Ministry of Health recommendation is 260 E.coli/100mls of water and that’s what it used to be. That would equate to 1 in 1000 chance of getting sick.
Big damn difference – again, shifting the goal posts.
read: Unswimmable Lagoon Now Swimmable
The problem is that the Government wants to intensify the dairy industry, meaning, more cows per herd and more dairy farms. Although I have no idea why – with the downturn of dairy and the rise of plant milks, dairy is definitely on the way out (albeit slowly).
The only good thing they announced was that all farmed waterways were to be fenced… however, yes, there’s a ‘BUT’ to this. – doesn’t have to be done till 2040!!!! How much damage can be done till then????
Besides with cows in paddocks, they’re still weeing and poohing and that eventually gets into the water table.
And one last thing he said? Don’t go swimming if there’s been a decent amount of rain. Instead of cleaning the water…..
“a big rainfall event that brings all the crap in.” – Nick Smith
If you want to find out more, head over to Stuff News “The New Swimmable Fresh Water Target”
What’s the water like in your neck of the woods?
