water Archive

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  Before we fix water quality we need to stop allowing more pollution - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  The Prime Minister bragged about how much money his Government is spending on water clean-ups today, but he failed to admit that the money required for clean-up of our rivers and lakes will increase because of his policies. Nearly every study on water quality shows that land use intensification leads to water pollution. Yet the [...] read more
  April 17, 2013 4:13 pm - 4 Comments
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  Low flows on the Rangitaiki River - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Even before the summer’s drought began in earnest, the Rangitaiki River in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, has been victim to low flows, thanks to the TrustPower operated Matahina Dam upstream of Te Teko. On my February trip on the river our safety boat had only been in the water five minutes when it grounded [...] read more
  April 16, 2013 11:46 am - 2 Comments
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  The rapid roadshow – is this consultation? - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Monday saw the start of the Government’s rapid fire roadshow on its proposals to weaken the RMA and allow increased exploitation of our water. I’ve previously covered some of the Minister’s attempt to shut down debate on the proposals. I  just wanted to point out that that the timing of consultation meetings is important. If [...] read more
  March 13, 2013 10:43 am - 2 Comments
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  Mourning local democracy in Canterbury - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  National’s distaste for democracy and intolerance of dissenting views is increasing. Pre ‘quakes Cathedral Square was the heart of Christchurch. Two years later the public are still fenced out and kept behind the cordon. The Government’s Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) decides who can get access beyond the Army guards and security fence. CERA allows [...] read more
  March 8, 2013 3:26 pm - 7 Comments
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  Protecting our tuna/eels – Tuna legend Bill Kerr - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Bill Kerrison is a legend when it comes to tuna or eels and it was privilege to meet him during a recent Dirty Water tour in the Bay of Plenty. Over several decades he has transferred an estimated 25 million eels around Bay of Plenty dams such as the Matahina on the Rangitaiki River. New [...] read more
  February 25, 2013 5:22 pm - 4 Comments
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  Dirty Water Tour – the Waitara - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Taranaki’s Waitara River ranked dead last on the Ministry for the Environment recreational river water quality league table. So it was an obvious candidate for our Dirty Water Tour, highlighting community initiatives to clean up our rivers, lakes and estuaries. read more
  February 5, 2013 1:23 pm - 3 Comments
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  January water woes - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Summer should be about lazy days at the beach, picnics on the riverbank and swimming. But increasingly we have a new summer ritual of warnings in newspapers around the country; warnings telling you to stay out of the local beaches, lakes and many of the rivers where families and friends have traditionally gathered each summer. [...] read more
  February 1, 2013 1:12 pm - 4 Comments
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  In defence of science - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  While universities are primarily charged with promoting learning they also have a vital role as the critic and conscience of society.  Scientists ask questions, investigate, research, analyse the data and report on the results. Their work informs the public debate.  How then are we to interpret repeated attacks on university scientists such as Massey University’s [...] read more
  December 4, 2012 4:46 pm - 168 Comments
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  Fourth Dirty Water Tour starts in Southland - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  I launched our fourth “Dirty Water Tour” this week at Invercargill’s New River Estuary, with Southland Green Party member Dave Kennedy, and Maurice Rodway of Fish and Game.  Invercargill could potentially overtake Oamaru as the heritage capital of the south  – distinctive and attractive heritage buildings abound. Natural heritage at the nearby New River Estuary, [...] read more
  November 21, 2012 5:49 pm - 3 Comments
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  The Parliamentary week that was, 16-18 Oct, for Pacific communities - by Jan Logie

  
  
  
  This is the start of what I hope will be a periodic review of what’s been happening in Parliament and what it might mean for Pacific communities. This week I’ll focus on three possible law changes, two bad and one good. Youth Rates – the Government has introduced a Bill into the House to extend [...] read more
  October 23, 2012 11:00 am - 1 Comment
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  Dilution is not the solution to pollution - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  I was in Napier earlier last week trying to discourage the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) from proceeding with its mega dam, mega risky, $233 million Ruataniwha irrigation and hydro scheme. The scheme involves an 83 metre high concrete and rock dam and a 5 km long reservoir flooding the upper reaches of the Makaroro [...] read more
  October 1, 2012 9:59 am - 7 Comments
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  Protecting the Mokihinui - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  At its July meeting the West Coast Conservation Board decided unanimously to request the New Zealand Conservation Authority to use its powers under section 8 of the National Parks Act to investigate adding the Mokihinui River catchment to Kahurangi National Park. I have written to Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson and asked her to request the [...] read more
  July 18, 2012 10:29 am - No Comments
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  Turbulent waters ahead for Government - by frog

  
  
  
  Anyone feel a hīkoi coming on? Angry protests on the cards? Cracks in the coalition? Iwi/Kiwi billboards and rednecks freaking out on talkback radio? One flip comment from the PM saying his Government could ignore whatever the Waitangi Tribunal decides about Māori water rights and it’s all on. The Māori Party formed over the divisive [...] read more
  July 11, 2012 11:09 am - 151 Comments
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  Regional councils launch new water website - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Check out a new website on water quality information launched this week. It’s a co-operative effort by regional and unitary councils to provide accessible water quality information for each of New Zealand‘s 16 regions in one place. A useful feature of the site is that it focuses on river catchments and that it provides information [...] read more
  May 5, 2012 10:00 am - 2 Comments
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  Damming the Makaroro? - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  There are many ways to get close to rivers : sitting on a the bank listening to the sound and music of the water, boulder hopping while tramping,  drifting gently down river in a kayak, or picking the best line through some noisy rapids on a bouncing raft but I had never tried fishing. As [...] read more
  April 19, 2012 4:50 pm - 1 Comment
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  Stratford public meeting: unanimous support for fracking moratorium from the frontlines - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Last night I attended a public meeting in Stratford, Taranaki to discuss the local hydraulic fracturing or fracking occurring in the region. The community passed a unanimous motion to call on the Taranaki Councils to place an immediate moratorium on fracking, and to call for an independent inquiry into the process and what is occurring in Taranaki. read more
  March 1, 2012 2:25 pm - 3 Comments
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  Frack No! Sign the Petition - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  A lot of New Zealanders  have not yet heard about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but many of those who do know something about it are worried, and rightly so! The technique is used to extract ‘unconventional’ oil and gas – that’s industry speak for sources of hydrocarbons that until recently were deemed too expensive or difficult to [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 11:01 am - 16 Comments
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  Boom times for oil and gas? - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  This morning’s  Dominion article about ‘boom times’ for the gas and oil exploration industry is an intriguing, even slightly funny, mix of boosterism, drum beating and dissimulation. The Chair of PEPANZ appears almost breathless with excitement as he seeks to fulfil the primary objective of his organisation, “to publicise, promote and advance the interests of [...] read more
  September 7, 2011 9:59 am - 6 Comments
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  Trustpower and the Govt plan to mine this national park – Rakaia River - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Last Saturday I went to pay my respects to one of the grand old men who built the Canterbury Plains, the Rakaia River. The Rakaia River is the greatest of the remaining untamed braided rivers. Starting in the Southern Alps it reaches the ocean south of Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora. It is one of the rivers that [...] read more
  May 9, 2011 6:13 pm - 4 Comments
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  Aucklanders, you know you’re drinking the Waikato River - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  One in three New Zealanders (Auckland, Hamilton et al) have a very direct interest in the quality of the water coming down the Waikato River because their drinking water is extracted from that catchment. The more polluted that water is, the more expensive and difficult it is to treat it. So how bad is the water at the end of the Waikato river? read more
  April 29, 2011 5:05 pm - 18 Comments
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  Visions of Christchurch: My Public Forum Series - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  For the first few weeks, it was shovelling.  Then it was door-knocking.  Then it was fund-raising to buy food and deliver it to welfare centres, attending memorial services, participating in MP briefings, and travelling into the suburbs and Lyttelton for meetings with Green members and others. Now it is time to refocus and plan for [...] read more
  April 29, 2011 3:57 pm - 3 Comments
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  Podcast: Russel’s Dirty Rivers Wrap-up - by frog

  
  
  
  Russel is about to wrap his second annual Dirty Rivers Rafting Tour. Russel has been visiting rivers that are either dangerously polluted, or threatened due to large dam and irrigation projects, and rafting or kayaking them with local environmentalists, whitewater enthusiasts, iwi, farmers, and media. The purpose of the tour is to highlight the threats [...] read more
  April 29, 2011 3:47 pm - No Comments
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  Restoring the Kaipara Harbour - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  I was really inspired when taking part in a hui at Puatahi Marae on Sunday, an open day for the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group.  The group’s title is a mouthful, but there is nothing complicated about the vision they share, which is to restore the Kaipara, its mauri, its quality and its ecosystems back to what [...] read more
  April 18, 2011 5:58 pm - 1 Comment
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  The last line of defence to save the Wairau River from TrustPower - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Meet Joan and John McLauchlan. They are farmers from the Wairau Valley near Blenheim and they are the last line of defence against TrustPower’s attempts to destroy the Wairau River. I launched my 2011 summer Rivers Tour on the Wairau River on Monday with 25 of us paddling down a section of the river. TrustPower, majority owned by [...] read more
  January 12, 2011 10:57 am - 12 Comments
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  Democracy in NZ: Lost, Stolen or just Mislaid? - by frog

  
  
  
  Last weekend Jeanette Fitzsimons delivered the inaugural Rod Donald Memorial lecture to a packed audience in Christchurch. Here are some highlights of the speech and you can read the whole thing here. Running through the history of democracy has been the issue of just who is a member of society? In ancient Athens women and [...] read more
  November 23, 2010 12:22 pm - 21 Comments
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  Factory farming in the Mackenzie Basin – again - by frog

  
  
  
  NZ Herald reports: Three companies are trying again to secure land use rights for large-scale dairy farming in the Omarama and Ohau regions of the South Island. They want to develop 16 dairy farms with up to 17,850 cows housed in cubicles. Looks like it’s the same people with the same sort of plans as [...] read more
  October 5, 2010 12:38 pm - 4 Comments
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  Hawkes Bay local elections - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Got an interesting email from Tom at the BayBuzz about the election up there. Thought this billboard that someone has put up was awesome. Apparently it has upset some of the local regional councillors who have overseen the pollution… read more
  September 21, 2010 10:45 pm - 8 Comments
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  Feds play games over Manawatu clean up - by frog

  
  
  
  So, 27 organisations in the Manawatu region including city & regional council, industrial players, iwi and environment groups have signed an historic agreement, committing to clean up the polluted Manawatu river. Great stuff. Only problem is, the farmers aren’t playing ball. read more
  August 10, 2010 11:51 am - 8 Comments
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  NIWA on water – the science is compelling - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Interesting lead article on freshwater in the relaunched NIWA magazine, Water and Atmosphere. Trend is worsening: NIWA states that water quality is degrading in our major rivers and that the ‘upward trend in temperature, nitrogen and phosphorus has strengthened in recent years’. Source of the pollution: ‘pastoral farming… is undoubtedly the main source of diffuse [...] read more
  August 5, 2010 9:11 pm - 13 Comments
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  Mangatarere Stream report – no dairy effluent storage - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  This is one of the more detailed reports into a river system – the Mangatarere. Put out by Wellington regional council yesterday. The Mangatarere is in the Wairarapa and feeds into the Waiohine which feeds the Ruamahunga. It has some significant problems and the report tries to find out why. I’ve only read the Summary, [...] read more
  August 5, 2010 6:23 pm - No Comments
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  Large scale irrigation -> Intensive dairy -> water pollution - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Yesterday we heard from David Carter that central govt wants to subsidise large scale irrigation projects in Canterbury and elsewhere.  And Morning Report is running with the story of a mega- irrigation project right across Canterbury, details sketchy but ‘exciting’. The water would be used to spread intensive dairy across huge swathes of Canterbury. The proponents [...] read more
  August 5, 2010 9:20 am - 10 Comments
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  Bazley comments on Canterbury water are a worry - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  These reported comments by Margaret Bazley are a real worry: Canterbury has “plenty of water” and people worried about rapid changes in its regulation need to be educated, says Environment Canterbury (ECan) head commissioner Dame Margaret Bazley. There is not plenty of water, it seems that Bazley needs to be educated if these comments are accurate. [...] read more
  August 3, 2010 7:58 pm - 3 Comments
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  Labour’s eerily familiar water campaign - by frog

  
  
  
  They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I guess we should be flattered by this leaflet from Labour MP Brendon Burns which appeared at the Christchurch eco-show: Not only is the image of Mr Burns rafting the Hurunui River strangely similar to many of those from Russel’s Dirty Rivers Rafting Tour… …but [...] read more
  July 29, 2010 1:24 pm - 21 Comments
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  Win-win option for Wairarapa water - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I spent Wednesday in the sunny Wairarapa checking out a plan for a cool-sounding irrigation scheme. Masterton District Council (MDC) is due to make a decision next month about how it will upgrade its wastewater facilities. At the moment, 100 percent of the town’s sewage is pumped (after treatment) into the Ruamahanga River, which pleases [...] read more
  July 16, 2010 10:36 am - 1 Comment
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  CTU spot on with submission - by frog

  
  
  
  Submissions to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee about the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill closed last week. Out of the 427 submissions, one of the most interesting and well done was put forward by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. The submission outlines the problems with defining core services, the emphasis on investing and undertaking [...] read more
  July 9, 2010 10:51 am - 9 Comments
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  Rules for freshwater management? Never! - by frog

  
  
  
  Kiran Chug has a great story in this morning’s Dominion Post: the sorry tale of the proposed National Policy Statement on Freshwater management. Our rivers are getting dirtier and dirtier while this document languishes. A quick history: National policy statements are tools that can be developed under the Resource Management Act to guide local and [...] read more
  June 16, 2010 10:45 am - 11 Comments
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  Does contaminated water make you sick to your stomach? - by frog

  
  
  
  As you know, I am a frog of many talents, and one of the things I like to do in my down time is read specialist medical journals about inflammatory bowel diseases. No really. See, I know a number of people with Crohn’s Disease – a debilitating condition causing chronic inflammation of the intestine – [...] read more
  June 10, 2010 11:00 am - 12 Comments
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  Erosion of environmental representation at ECan - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  And so it begins… Forest and Bird revealed yesterday that the first local committee set up under the new ECan structure to consider the future of the Hurunui and Waiau river catchments was unlikely to have any members representing environmental concerns. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but with the Government’s not-so-hidden agenda for [...] read more
  June 1, 2010 4:45 pm - 17 Comments
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  Water and democracy - by Sue Kedgley

  
  
  
  Every New Zealander should be worried about Rodney Hide’s latest bill on local government — which will allow our water supplies [DOC] to be controlled and managed by private companies for 35 years, and will force Councils to focus only on ill-defined ‘core business’ [DOC] (which excludes, amongst other things, the environment).’ Multinational corporations are [...] read more
  May 5, 2010 6:40 pm - 18 Comments
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  Podcast: Carter, conflicts, and Canterbury - by frog

  
  
  
  Cantabrians are fired up about legislation passed under urgency last month which sacked their regional councillors and circumvented the established process for Water Conservation Orders on Canterbury Rivers. Amidst the furore an interesting set of circumstances has come to light around Agriculture Minister David Carter. Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman revealed in Parliament that Carter [...] read more
  April 21, 2010 3:37 pm - 3 Comments