River health in Marlborough

Nearly 70 percent of Marlborough’s waterways have acceptable water quality.

The annual River Health State of the Environment Report Card which was presented to August’s Environment and Planning Committee detailed the state of Marlborough’s rivers.

Council’s Environmental Scientist Steffi Henkel said water quality of rivers and streams was monitored at 35 sites across the region. “Regular reporting on river water quality provides valuable information for the public and is also essential for the development and evaluation of regulatory and non-regulatory resource management tools,” she said.

Results from several parameters over three years were used for the calculation of a water quality index which allows for ranking and categorising of the sites using limits of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.

This showed 68 per cent were in the fair or good categories and 32 per cent had marginal water quality.

“Initiatives such as the Catchment Care programme and the Te Hoiere Project aim to improve the health of rivers with low water quality indices,” Ms Henkel said. “Some of the poor states are a result of natural conditions and include lower macroinvertebrates scores in spring-fed steams.”

Healthy rivers and streams were integral to the social and economic wellbeing of the region Ms Henkel said.

Parameters measured included water temperature and dissolved oxygen, pH levels, E coli concentration, nutrient concentrations and turbidity.

A more in-depth analysis of river health can be found in three yearly reports. Go to:

www.marlborough.govt.nz/environment/rivers-and-wetlands/river-water-quality