[ad_1]
Supplied
Marawhara Walk and Stream at Piha, West Auckland, was closed due to slips from extreme weather during Auckland Anniversary weekend and Cyclone Gabrielle.
If you’re looking to take a dip in Auckland, best to steer clear of the rivers – almost all have enough E coli to make you sick.
Auckland Council’s recently released report into River Water Quality for the year 2022 contained hardly anything that could be called good news, according to one expert.
Each year the council releases data on 37 monitored rivers and streams, with the aim of providing a snapshot of the overall quality of Auckland’s fresh water.
The report looks at a range of factors and contaminants such as ammonia, nutrient enrichment, visual clarity, metal toxicity and faecal contamination (E coli).
E coli is normally found in human and animal intestines and exposure to it can cause infection.
The factors were measured in bands – in band A are the lowest levels of bacteria or contaminants, while band E denoted the highest levels.
The worst thing in the report was the E coli levels across the region, with more than 80% of monitored sites sitting in the lowest quality category possible due to the high concentrations found.
The high toxicity levels meant there was “widespread potential [for] human health risk across all rural and urban streams”, the report said.
Auckland Council Water Quality Team Manager Sieste Bouma said there was hardly any good news in the report, with a lot of the same issues from previous years cropping up.
E coli was the main problem, he said, with a large amount of work and resourcing needed to start to tackle the problem.
“Is enough being done? That’s a big question mark.”
JOHN BISSET/STUFF
Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor address a public meeting in Timaru about the Government’s proposed changes to water quality (Video first published in January 2020)
Bouma said the monitored sites weren’t normally hotspots for summer swimming, but stressed the risk of human contact with the contaminated waters.
Around a quarter of Auckland’s rivers failed at least one national or proposed bottom line for water quality – which means they’re likely to cause adverse health effects.
The report contained bad news for the native ecosystem as well, with sediment and visual clarity being a major driver of biodiversity loss.
Storm events had a major influence on the rivers and contributed large loads of sediments into the environment, the report showed.
A third of the sites were below the bottom line for dissolved zinc, but none were for copper.
New national regulations for freshwater, Te Mana o Te Wai, mean councils must have plans to meet new requirements by 2024 and implement them by 2026.
Auckland’s water strategy for 2022-2050 showed urban development and climate change are the two biggest problems for freshwater.
[ad_2]