"You’d have to be a brave soul to swim in the Aparima River, at Thornbury, the Waikaia River at Waikaia or the Mataura River at Gore".
Juliet Larkin, Invercargill based journalist writes on her blog Water Matters about the soon-to-be-released
report on the health of Southland’s fresh water, by Environment Southland and previews the report by saying,
"The picture doesn't look great".
High e-coli and nitrate levels are what the report will alert us to, as if we didn't already know, and advice on which of our waterways we should swim in and which to avoid.
I'm picking a heavy weighting to the former.
3 comments:
Kia ora Robert,
I live right next to the Manawatu river, and I can hardly stand to look at it out here after what has happened to it less than 100 kilometres from where it appears out of the Ruahine. I have slaked my thirst right from it, and gladly dove into clear cold pools on a hot day up there. Out here it lies near dead. Shameful.
Robb
Ruahines - shameful is right.
It appals me that people who speak out about the degradation of our rivers are told to 'get into the real world' or 'stop wallowing in nostalgia' by those who are profitting by using the rivers to their own ends. Chris Trotter (Bowally Road blog) wrote recently at his horror at discovering the river he swam in as a boy, the Waianakarua in North Otago, is now a mere trickle. Commenters suggested that he do those things I mentioned - in other words, accept it.
For me it's rockpools. I delighted in them as a boy, watching with delight the anenomies, butter fish, shrimps, chitons, limpets, cat's-eyes and a miriad of other creatures who lived in those pools. Nowadays, not so much. The pools I visited then are mostly bare.
I think comparisons with 'early days' are valid and shouldn't be dismissed as 'fanciful' and unrealistic.
Cna you do anything about the state of the Manawatu?
If it was a single source of pollution, you could bung that pipe!
Hi Robert,
Actually I have amended my post a bit. I decided I might be prejudging the report a bit, and hopefully it won't be all bad. What do you think of the summary in Envirosouth?
Juliet
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