“..
Yesterday, Norman kayaked Lake Ellesmere, which has a toxic alga concentration ..
.. as part of his national “dirty rivers rafting tour”.
He also attended a meeting on contaminated water supply in Dunsandel.
“It’s Dunsandel today but it’s Christchurch tomorrow – it’s getting closer,” he said.
“It seems like it’s a local problem for a little town .. but actually Christchurch needs to sit up and take notice.”
A GNS scientist said last year a 200-metre deep well in Avonhead had shown a “statistically significant trend” in increasing nitrate-nitrogen concentrations since 1995.
At the time Environment Canterbury (ECan) said the trend was a concern but the concentrations were low and did not pose health risks.
Yesterday, Norman said central and regional government had a responsibility to introduce regulations that protected water supplies, lakes and rivers.
“We just have to accept that with this kind of intensive agriculture we need regulation,” he said.
“You can’t say any more `farming’s all right’ – no-one has the right to pollute this water and this lake (Ellesmere) ..
.. and fundamentally that’s what happened.”
go to source/story>>Drinking water under threat, says Norman | Stuff.co.nz
