Water
International research has shown that freshwater has become the new ‘gold’. Rivers throughout the world have been under increasing pressure to provide not only for the necessities of life, but also for irrigation and hydro generation. The Green Party recognises that New Zealand rivers are no exception.
Climate change is also predicted to impact upon our river systems, including reduced glacial storage and changes in rainfall patterns, frequency of flooding and drought events. The pressures placed upon our river systems (like industrial dairying) have meant that the protection of natural and intrinsic values struggles to compete with the rush for access to freshwater.
What's new
Sewage ponds overflow at Lake Horowhenua
21 Aug 2008
Sewage ponds have overflowed at the Lake Horowhenua treatment plant with only new unlined earth banks keeping them from spilling into the lake. "This is turning out to be one of New Zealand’s worst sewage disasters in years," Says Green Co-Leader Russel Norman, "yet Horowhenua Mayor Brendan Duffy is still in denial. He needs to accept there is a major problem and take leadership on it or resign."
Go to our water page
Shocking report on West Coast water quality
22 Jul 2008The West Coast mining and dairy industries must be called to account by the West Coast Regional Council and the Government, after the industries were identified today as major offenders in a report saying 100 percent of West Coast water supplies failed to meet drinking standards, the Green Party says.
Oral Question - The Safety of Auckland's Drinking Water
Cabinet needs to step in to sort out a battle involving a Landcorp partnership in which Auckland's major drinking-water source is threatened, Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman says.
Click here to view Watercare's submission on the Waikato Regional Plan Variation:
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Water Links
Forest and Bird's Save the Mokihinui homepage. At the mouth of the Mokihinui, Meridian Energy has proposed a vast hydro scheme –an 85 metre high dam which will flood this spectacular gorge. 330 hectares of river bed and forest will be flooded! Its all in the name of ‘generating more power’. Yet it’s the biodiversity and wilderness that pay the biggest cost.
Dairying and Clean Streams Accord success claims exaggerated Taranaki Regional Council, Fonterra and Federated Farmers have grossly exaggerated the success of the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord in Taranaki, Forest & Bird says.
Suggest or comment on a link. Email: webmaster@greens.org.nz