IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL - 17/ 11/ 2014

Council must pull its weight on water quality

Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) must move towards improving the water quality of the Manawatu River rather than rolling over an existing consent to pump wastewater into the system, according to Wellington Fish & Game.

Commenting on the council’s application to extend its consent to discharge municipal wastewater into the river, Wellington Fish & Game manager Phil Teal says he expects “a trajectory of improvement by PNCC – not the status quo”.

“Together with nutrient runoff from intensive agriculture, the council’s wastewater discharge is having a significant and negative environmental impact on the health of the Manawatu River.

“As a signatory to the Manawatu River Accord – in which organisations including Fish & Game, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, iwi and Horizons Regional Council have all committed to clean up the river – the city council has a golden opportunity to make real and meaningful progress towards that goal,” says Mr Teal.

Wellington Fish & Game has submitted on the consent review specifically for an improvement of the council’s discharges to the river, leading to an enhancement of the degraded state of water quality.

“The council already has obligations to maintain or improve water quality under the Horizon’s One Plan and the National Policy Statement on Freshwater.

“So, we have outlined our expectation of a management plan from the council detailing measurable improvements in both wastewater discharge quality and discharge method, to ultimately improve the receiving environment – the river.”

Mr Teal notes that Carterton District Council (CDC), in Wairarapa, has made great progress towards upgrading its wastewater system to a point that by this summer it will no longer be discharging into the regional and nationally significant Mangatarere Stream. Instead, the treated wastewater will be spread onto land used to grow silage.

“Carterton District Council, with vastly fewer resources available to it than PNCC, is punching well above its weight. The Mangatarere Stream is a significant waterway because of the spawning runs of brown trout that populate the nationally important Ruamahanga River fishery. The health of both waterways will benefit from CDC’s foresight.

“PNCC should pull its weight and demonstrate an equal commitment to improving the water quality on its side of the Tararuas.”

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