Water Pollution Through Urban and Rural Land Use and Freshwater Allocation in New Zealand free essay sample

Water pollution through urban and rural land use and freshwater allocation in New Zealand New Zealand has 425,000  kilometres of rivers and streams, almost 4,000  lakes larger than 1  hectare in size, and about 200  groundwater aquifers (Ministry for the Environment, 2010). By international standards, freshwater in New Zealand is both clean and in good supply. However, some aspects of water quality are getting worse in areas dominated by intensive land use. Demand for water is increasing, particularly in areas that are already water-stressed. Water pollution is becoming an ongoing problem for New Zealand. Both Urban and Rural land uses are creating pollution in our water and degrading the quality of our water. Growing demand for water resources in many parts of New Zealand during the last two decades has increased competition and conflicts between different stakeholders for access to scarce surface water and groundwater resources. To try to enable more sustainability in the use of our freshwater, we need to learn to balance and control how much water we use and where it is most needed. We will write a custom essay sample on Water Pollution Through Urban and Rural Land Use and Freshwater Allocation in New Zealand or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Poor or declining water quality has already created direct costs, such as the nearly $450  million allocated over the next 10 to 20 years to the clean-up of Lake Taupo, Rotorua Lakes and the Waikato River, and can constrain economic opportunities (Ministry for the Environment 2010). In New Zealand, it is increasingly recognised, including by government, that water resource allocation and water quality are issues of national importance. Agriculture is frequently portrayed by New Zealand media as a major user of water and a major contributor to worsening water quality. (R. Cullen, 2006). Ministry for the Environment (1997, p. 88) said that: â€Å" Water quality is generally high around the coast, in deep lakes, and in the headwaters of most rivers, and in many cases this is maintained into lowland areas. However, water quality deteriorates in streams, rivers and lakes which drain agricultural catchments, with agricultural run-off causing elevated nutrient and sediment loads. † Water Quality Water quality is a term that is based upon the characteristics of water in relation to values of what is suitable for human consumption and for all usual domestic purposes, including personal hygiene. Components of water quality include microbial, biological, chemical, and physical aspects. Microbial aspects means that drinking water should not contain bacteria that would indicate excremental pollution, the primary indicator of which are coli form bacteria that are present in the faeces of warm-blooded organisms. Biological aspects show that parasitic protozoa are also indicators of water quality. Drinking water sources that are not likely to be contaminated by fecal matter should be used where possible due to the lack of good indicators for the presence or absence of pathogenic protozoa. Chemical mean that chronic health effects are more common than acute effects because the levels of chemicals in drinking water are seldom high enough to cause acute health effects. Since there is limited evidence relating chronic human health conditions to specific drinking-water contaminants, laboratory animal studies and human data from clinical reports are used to predict adverse effects. Physical aspects of the water quality means the color, taste, and odour of water can be monitored. Inorganic compounds such as magnesium, calcium, sodium, copper, iron, and zinc are generally detected by the taste of water, and contamination with the oxygenated fuel additive MTBE has affected the taste of some water. Freshwater Allocation Growing demand for water resources in many parts of New Zealand during the last two decades has increased competition and conflicts between different stakeholders for access to scarce surface water and groundwater resources. However, while the RMA planning framework is innovative in a number of important respects, regional councils have evidently found it difficult to satisfactorily address water conflicts within the framework of the RMA. The RMA provides for regional councils to formulate policy statements and plans to allocate water resources and to allocate water to different uses under the resource consent process. The Act ties the granting of water permits for consumptive purposes to specific activities on or at particular sites. (Skelton, 2007). New Zealand needs to reduce our water usage if we want to keep the resource sustainable. According to studies completed by the Ministry for The Environment (2010), there were more than 20,500 resource consents for taking water. Around two-thirds of consents permit taking water from groundwater sources, however, the volume of water allocated from surface water sources (rivers and streams) is four times higher than from groundwater sources. In 2010, the majority of consumptive weekly allocations were for irrigation (46 per cent) and hydro generation (41 per cent). The remainder is shared among public drinking water supply, industry and stock watering. All of the volume for the hydro generation is for the Manapouri hydro take in Southland, which discharges the allocated fresh water to sea. [ (MFE, 2010) ] Use of weekly allocated water in New  Zealand, 2010 Retrieved from http://www. mfe. govt. nz Agriculture and Freshwater Agricultural land use has a significant impact on water quality and the availability of fresh water, particularly in New Zealand’s lowland streams. The amount of pollution from diffuse sources, such as urban storm water, animal effluent and fertiliser run-off, has greatly increased in the past 20 years. To improve water quality farmers must learn that the effect of their management practices on water resources can have a negative effect on future generations. Managing stock levels, planting vegetation at the edge of rivers and streams (riparian planting) and other sustainable farming practices all help reduce the levels of farm effluent, excess nutrients and chemicals entering waterways. The Dairying and Clean Streams Accord was created. This is a voluntary agreement between Fonterra Co-operative Group (the largest dairy company in New Zealand), regional councils and the Ministers for the Environment and of Agriculture and Forestry. This was signed in May 2003, to try and achieve clean, healthy waterways in dairying regions (Ministry for the Environment, 2008). Urban land use and Freshwater Cities and towns exhibit some of the most intensive land use in New Zealand. It is not surprising that some of our most degraded streams are in these urban areas. Storm water runoff has the greatest effect on urban water quality and also on the flows of urban water. Action needs to be taken now to prevent further decline in water quality of urban waters, and to protect our pristine water bodies. The Government is developing national policies, such as the proposed National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management, to ensure that these objectives are met. Methods to improve discharges could include improved discharge treatment, riparian planting, wetland restoration and public education programmes, as well as improved approaches to town planning and development, such as low-impact urban design. (Ministry for the Environment, 2008) The Sustainable Water Programme of Action In 2003, the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry jointly launched the Sustainable Water Programme of Action (SWPoA) to identify priorities for government action to improve freshwater management in New Zealand. By 2007, government had approved the development of a national policy statement on freshwater, as well as two national environmental standards, including one that will ensure methods used to allocate water are geared to safeguard aquatic ecosystems. The New Zealand Government’s Sustainable Water Programme of Action was developed in response to growing concern among New Zealanders about the future sustainability of fresh water and the need for greater consistency in decision-making on freshwater management. The many Maori iwi found around the country want to protect the water of New Zealand as it is sacred to them and provides them with resources. Although the long-held connection that Maori have with freshwater resources and their role as kaitiaki in managing them has been formally recognised in New Zealand legislation and policy, there remains a gap between these initiatives and the realisation of Maori values in water-planning processes. It is essential Maori values are understood and accounted for when decisions are made regarding water allocations within these systems. In this context, then, increasing Maori involvement in freshwater management, including water allocation processes, has become a key component of the Government’s programme to improve water allocation decisions. (M Durette 2009) During my studies I have found that New Zealand has a huge problem with pollution and water use. If we want to keep the freshwater quality high and healthy, we need to seriously look into allocation of water to the different uses and balance it out in the amounts needed for each use. Personally, I think that the New Zealand government should start charging for the use of water. I think that this would be a good way to discourage people to use high amounts of unnecessary water. If we kept the water quality around where it is currently at, or even higher, it would save a lot of money that is being used to clean up the lakes in New Zealand. The pollution through rural and urban land use has to be more publicised as not many people know how much damage they are doing to the environment. If a campaign was set up to show the population what is happening to our freshwater resources, they would be more aware and informed of the situation and how they can do their part to save the resource.