Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:01 am, September 1st, 2016 - 59 comments

Categories: farming, national, science, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, water, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: gastroenteritis, havelock north, mike joy, nick smith, water, water quality

There doesn’t seem to be any level that National won’t stoop to in order to make excuses for plundering and polluting the environment. I’ve heard some nonsense in my time, but this…

Swimmable lakes would require a bird cull – Smith It’s impossible to make all New Zealand lakes and lagoons swimmable without a massive bird cull, the Environment Minister Nick Smith says. …

It wasn’t so long ago (a blink of a geological eye) that NZ was covered in forest, teeming with birds, and awash with pure water. It’s not the birds that are the problem here. The Greens:

Blaming birds for poor water quality is a load of quackery

…

Environment Minister Nick Smith’s excuse that pollution from birds and geothermal activity is the real reason why his Government will not commit to swimmable rivers is completely baseless, the Green Party said today. Dr Smith said last night that amending the Government’s policy on water so that the minimum mandatory standard for rivers is that they are safe for swimming is ‘impractical’, and cited bird colonies and geothermal activity as reasons why. “We asked the regional councils how many waterways in their area are affected by birds and geothermal or volcanic activity, and the numbers are minimal,” said Green Party water spokesperson Catherine Delahunty. …

The cause of our water problems – the worst levels of waterborne gastrointestinal diseases in the OECD – is not birds or geothermal, it is intensive dairy farming. Listen to an actual scientist, the one and only Dr Mike Joy, set out the facts in this 10 minute webcast.



Oddly enough the distributions of nitrate and ecoli indicators of poor water quality matches the distribution of cows.

Havelock North is just the largest and most recent outbreak of water borne disease. It has happened before and it will happen again. There is now a discussion of the question of whether all NZ drinking water should be chlorinated. I’m with Russel Norman on this one, the better approach would be to stop putting shit in the water.

Further reading:

Coming soon to a town near you – undrinkable water

Poisoning the wells: a history of infected drinking water in Canterbury

Christchurch’s drinking water contaminated 125 times in four years

Farmers reject blame over water contamination

‘100% Pure’ reputation could take another hit after Havelock North water fail

A photo essay by David Parker in the Hawke’s Bay:

Personal note: I’ve work to do elsewhere for a bit. Back in a couple of months.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

