Election Issue – FRESH WATER

Fresh Water

Election Issue 2026

New Zealand’s fresh water leads the world – but not in a good way. New Zealanders from every political persuasion are dependent on the drinking water that comes from rivers, lakes or groundwater. We also enjoy our rivers and lakes for recreation and the collection of kai. However, New Zealand’s fresh water is under mounting pressure from threats including agriculture, climate change and housing sprawl. Key issues include high contamination by pathogens, excessive nutrients (nitrogen/phosphorus), shrinking glaciers, encroaching seawater and declining biodiversity.

Below you’ll find some information about this issue, as well as some accompanying questions, which could be asked of candidates in your electorate.

 

Overview

In April this year the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ published Our Fresh Water 2026: Tō Tātou Wai Māori. As the Secretary for the Environment and the Government Statistician state in the opening of the report: Freshwater … supports our health and wellbeing, enables food and energy production, sustains ecosystems and underpins almost every part of our economy. When freshwater is degraded or becomes less reliable, the costs are felt by households, communities, businesses and infrastructure.

According to the report, an estimated 45% of our total river length is not suitable for swimming due to bacterial contamination including E coli and Cryptosporidium (generally from faecal pollution). Contaminants including pesticides, and other so called forever chemicals, were found in 97% of samples; 25% of samples tested positive for pharmaceuticals and another 25% for microplastics.

Reflecting one of the highest rates globally, over 89% of NZ’s freshwater fish species are in decline or at risk of extinction. While the introduction of invasive species has contributed to this, the more significant cause is sedimentation (some of the highest sedimentation rates ever recorded in rivers globally are in the east coast of NZ’s North Island), and nutrient contamination. Intensive modern agriculture contaminates rivers, streams and groundwater with chemical ‘nutrients’, including nitrogen. Nitrogen promotes the growth of algae in waterways, which in addition to smothering the bed of the waterway, reducing habitat for other aquatic species, significantly reduces the Oxygen levels, which is a killer.

Nitrate levels are measured in milligrams per litre. New Zealand’s current Maximum Acceptable Value (MAV) for nitrate in drinking water is  11.3 mg/L (nitrate-nitrogen) or 50 mg/L (total nitrate). This level is based on 1958 guidelines from the World Health Organisation and was primarily set to prevent methemoglobinemia, commonly known as Blue Baby Syndrome (as it affects the blood’s ability to carry oxygen), which is a life-threatening blood condition in infants.

 

Contemporary research from both national and international studies suggest that long-term exposure to nitrate in drinking water – even at the significantly lower levels of 1 mg/L to 5 mg/L – may be linked to increased risk of colorectal (bowel) cancer. There is also emerging evidence of a potential correlation with low birth weights and pre-term births        (https://www.taumataarowai.govt.nz/home/articles/nitrate-in-drinking-water-facts-and-figures). (Public Health Communication Centre (2026) https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/nitrate-pollution-drinking-water-linked-preterm-birth-new-nz-study)

 

While the MAV for nitrate in drinking water is 11.3 mg/L, the standard for protecting aquatic life is far lower. The Freshwater National Policy statement, which the government plans to repeal, has a bottom line for waterways of 2.9 mg nitrate-nitrogen/L. Freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy from Victoria University of Wellington, labels the  2.9 mg/L level a “false flag”, as algal blooms and the lack of oxygen that result kills and/or displaces fish, occur at levels of 1mg/L.

 

In May of this year, the New Zealand Government passed the Environment (Disestablishment of the Ministry for the Environment) Amendment Act 2026, legally disestablishing the standalone Ministry for the Environment (MfE). From July 1st the functions of the MfE’s will be merged into the new mega-ministry, the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT). Prior to the passing of the Act, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment advised that the Ministry for the Environment should “be left out of this merger” and that “this change is unlikely to help the environment”.

 

Questions

  • How does your party intend to use the evidence from the Our Fresh Water 2026 report to put in place stronger limits on pollution, and create land-use rules that protect the health of rivers, lakes, and aquifers?
  • What would your party do to address New Zealand’s declining fresh water quality?
  • Would you seek to restore water quality, or to mitigate the worst impacts?
  • If you chose mitigation, how will you identify and understand how a mitigation approach will impact New Zealander’s way of life?
  • To improve our water standards will be a long-term project. What is your plan to get cross-party support so the project can proceed over time and multiple configurations of government?
  • What would you want to achieve in your parliamentary term with respect to New Zealand’s fresh water equality?   
  • At a time where the government’s own information tells us that our water quality is declining, how does the disestablishment of the MfE, and changes to the Resource Management Act help to fix the issue?
  • How would your party coordinate action between numerous agencies (including MCERT, EPA, regional councils, Fish and Game, DoC) to address the decline in quality and biodiversity of our freshwater systems?

 

 Resources and References 

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