Tēnā koutou. This year’s annual waterways report card is more timely and important than ever.
Amid the national conversation on the Government’s new proposals seeking to improve rivers and streams, this report offers a chance to assess regional progress so far, reflect on the lessons learned, and think about the best way forward.
We all want our waterways to be healthy. And the Taranaki community has not been standing idly by waiting for the right regulations. Download this report as a PDF and you'll also see a brief outline of the enormous voluntary effort by landowners to fence and plant thousands of kilometres of ringplain and coastal rivers and streams. The finish line is in sight. And as the results summarised here show, the effort is getting good results. That’s been confirmed in an independent NIWA report.
The ecological health of waterways is assessed by studying the small critters and organisms in streams and rivers, and is the primary measure of freshwater quality. Across the region, our rivers and streams are improving or not showing any significant changes. At more and more sites, we’re seeing the best results since monitoring began in 1995.
Measuring organic contamination, nutrient concentrations and aesthetic quality can flag pressures on waterways and indicate where to best focus our attention. The picture in Taranaki is largely stable but our aim is to achieve more improvements and fewer declines. Fewer sites are showing deterioration, particularly in nutrient concentrations.
Freshwater physicochemical monitoring 2017-2018 [PDF, 2.8 MB]
Algae, or periphyton, is essential for aquatic ecosystems but excessive levels can cause environmental and/or health problems. Just about all of Taranaki’s monitored sites meet national guidelines all the time.
The Government has set compulsory standards for a number of water-quality measures year round. All the toxicant measurements at the Council's monitoring sites meet the standards, with more than two-thirds achieving the best score.
Over summer, the Council monitors popular swimming spots on the coast (where most people swim) and at our rivers and streams. Freshwater sites are mostly good, with contamination by wildfowl and gulls the main problem at two urban sites. Coastal sites are consistently good with all sites meeting the swimming guidelines apart from one sample at one site.
Coastal water quality monitoring summer 2018-2019 [PDF, 6.2 MB]
Freshwater recreational bathing monitoring summer 2018-2019 [PDF, 5.3 MB]
