The mauri and health of our rivers and streams is highly valued and is vital to the well-being, livelihood and lifestyle of everyone in the Taranaki region.
There is plenty of interest and public discussion around the water quality in our rivers and streams. And so, as the manager of the freshwater resource, the Taranaki Regional Council closely monitors waterway quality to ensure that the discussion, as well as the Council’s own decision making, is well informed by fact and science.
The Taranaki Regional Council has been closely monitoring water quality across Taranaki for two decades. The overall picture that has emerged in recent years is that Taranaki’s freshwater quality is generally very good by national and international standards and comparisons. And the quality of Taranaki’s waterways compares well with other catchments of a similar nature around New Zealand.
The latest trends for 20 years of monitoring ecological health and the physical and chemical state of our rivers and streams show most measures are improving or not changing significantly, and are again the best since our measurements began.
This is no accident. The Taranaki community continues to invest heavily in measures that protect and enhance the region’s waterways. The benefits are now becoming more apparent and the Council remains firmly focused on working with the Taranaki community to continue improvement in the region.
I invite you to read the report on the most recent findings of Council’s extensive water quality monitoring programmes. The programmes are designed to accepted protocols and subjected to external review and audit to ensure their scientific integrity.
The report card is available on the Council’s website at www.trc.govt.nz/healthy-waterways-report-2016/. The report is based on detailed scientific reports which are also on the website.
David MacLeod
Chairman, Taranaki Regional Council