water Archive

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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