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Northlanders are being encouraged to have their say on what’s needed to improve the poor state of local lakes, streams and rivers as part of a new regional Freshwater Plan.
At the moment, around 95% of Northland rivers are graded poor or very poor for E. coli (faecal contamination) and 70% of rivers and streams have low levels of freshwater insects.
Sediment is also a major contributor to poor water quality throughout the region. Northland Regional Council Chair Tui Shortland said there was a huge task ahead to meet new national minimum standards for freshwater quality and Council had been working with a range of groups to help develop the new plan.
However, she said more input from the public was wanted before a draft was released later this year.
“We’ve been set a challenge by government to improve the health of our freshwater systems and the Freshwater Plan will be our new ‘rule book’ for how we treat freshwater in the future,” Shortland said.
“We want to know what people want to see improved.” The survey can be found at www.nrc.govt.nz/your-council/have-your-say/freshwater-values-and-impacts
