Water
A basic necessity of life
Also a very emotive subject
Man needs three things to survive: FOOD : AIR : WATER
There are many people stating that we are running out of water, but in fact that is not the case there is still ample water available it is more a case that we (the human race) are having such an effect on the environment that we are unable in some areas to access good quality water supplies to sustain life.
It is not that we are running out it is the fact that we are contaminating our supplies.
We not only require water for our own drinking requirements but it is also vital to have an adequate supply of good quality water for food production, from animals, fruit and vegetables.
Currently the Waikato Regional Council (WRC) is part way through the process of reviewing and changing their regional plans in relation to water. The Proposed Plan Change (PC1) which relates to the Waikato and Waipa Rivers and all of their associated tributaries has been promoted under the heading of The Healthy Rivers Strategy.
The WRC has stated that under the proposed plan change (Healthy Rivers Strategy) that the water quality in the Waikato and Waipa Rivers will be returned to the same levels as existed in approximately 1862. The Healthy Rivers Strategy is based on an eighty year time frame for completion and requires compliance with the Vision and Strategy that is contained in schedule 2 of Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010.
But I have some extreme reservations about the whole process of the proposed plan change and the main ones are set out below:
I light of my comments above; I ask some questions and pose some answers to those questions:
The dairy sector is expected to have losses of approximately $2.0 Billion as a result of the total reduction in N discharge which is expected to be in the region of 5 – 6 % reduction.
This will result in a reduction in capital land value of the average dairy property by somewhere in the range of $150,000 to $190,000 per farm.
The drystock sector is expected to have losses of approximately $300 to $400 Million as a result of the need to fence waterways to exclude stock and reticulate water.
There will also be a reduction in capital land value for the drystock sector of approximately $1200 to $1800 per hectare.
Overall this is expected to cost the dairy and drystock industries alone, losses of approximately $2.4 Billion dollars.
The impact on the horticulture sector is such that under the rule changes that came into effect in October 2016 when the PC1 was advertised for public submissions, the horticulture sector will over time disappear from the Waikato region.
When the downstream effects are taken into account such as;
Total Negative Impact in Waikato region will be billions of dollars over the eighty year time frame of the proposed plan change implementation.
This total negative economic impact on the Waikato region comes about even though only 15 of the sub-catchments in the Waikato and Waipa catchments are exceeding the standards for nitrogen discharge levels proposed to be introduced through the enactment of PC1.
In other words there is going to be significant costs across the Waikato region with flow on effects across the country as a whole, for very little gain.
7 per cent of the N and 18 per cent of the P comes from point sources and the balance (32 per cent N and 37 per cent P) is from natural sources.
If the claims of the decline of territorial authorities and the increased growth of the main centres are correct (and this is exacerbated as expected under the enactment of PC1), then pollution from these other sources (e.g. stormwater and effluent discharge from urban areas) are only going to grow as a percentage of the total discharges.
Yet PC1 focuses solely on farming as the source of contaminants in the waterways and yet this is provably wrong.
Arguably the largest contributor to sediment loading in the rivers is ignored in this plan change – KOI CARP! When they feed they stir up the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers, muddying the water and destroying native plant and fish habitat. Koi carp are opportunistic omnivores, which means they eat a wide range of food, including insects, fish eggs, juvenile fish of other species and a diverse range of plants and other organic matter.
They feed like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up everything and blowing out what isn’t wanted. Aquatic plants are dislodged in the process and are unlikely to re-establish. Koi carp cause habitat loss for plants, native fish, invertebrates and waterfowl.
Koi carp are widespread in Auckland and Waikato. The population has exploded, and they now make up 80% of the total biomass3 in the lower Waikato river catchment. It has been estimated that there are approximately 500,000 tonnes of Koi Carp in the lower Waikato Catchment.
Koi carp prefer still waters, spreading from rivers into lakes, streams or backwaters in rivers. They are highly tolerant of poor water quality – surviving well in degraded water and contributing to the decline.
Like most fish, koi reproduce through spawning in which a female lays a vast number of eggs and one or more males fertilize them and the resulting offspring (referred to as “fry”) exhibit a wide range of color and quality. Koi produce thousands of offspring from a single spawning and with no natural predators in the New Zealand environment they have a very high breeding success rate.
Waikato koi rarely exceed 9 years of age. Females average 5.2 years and males 4.6 years of age. An average fish weighs 3 kg. Females produce 100 000 eggs per kg of body weight. A typical female can produce 300 000 eggs annually (or more if they spawn11 more than once). Koi carp spawn throughout the summer. As they gather for spawning12 or feeding in the shallow margins of the river, koi biomass can reach 4000 kg/ha.
Koi greatly increase the turbidity of the water because they are constantly stirring up the substrate. This makes waterways unattractive, reduces the abundance of aquatic plants, and can render the water unsuitable for swimming or drinking, even by livestock. In some countries, koi have caused so much damage to waterways that vast amounts of money and effort have been spent trying to eradicate them, largely unsuccessfully.
Once established in an area they have a huge and significant impact on rivers and ponds. They destabilize river and pond banks and destroy habitat for native fish and waterfowl. The effect on the water quality is dramatic as they disturb the bottom of streams and ponds as they grub through bottom sediments and uproot plants, significantly increasing water turbidity. Once introduced they can quickly become the dominant fish in water bodies.
In summary:
Without having a strategy in place and controls being placed on pest fishes, we will not achieve a significant improvement in the quality of our water resources.
In actual fact there is the serious likelihood that we will have wasted millions of dollars of both public and private funds with no significant improvement in the water quality at best, and at worst we will see an accelerating decrease in the water quality due to the effects of Koi Carp.
I am not advocating a do nothing approach due to the effects of Koi Carp but I am saying that until and unless, we can address all of the causes of the reduced water quality (Urban development, Rural development and Nature effects), we cannot guarantee any ongoing improvement in Water Quality.
A. J. Loader.
Co-Chairperson
Primary Land Users Group