Freshwater focus for World Water Day

22 March 2017

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is celebrating World Water Day today, Wednesday 22 March.

Regional Council Chairman Doug Leeder said that Council invests more than $24 million each year into caring for the region’s freshwater resources as part of its Long Term Plan commitments to the community.

“From restoring wetlands, managing water use consents, and maintaining stop banks, to fencing and planting waterways, Regional Council staff work on water every day. World Water Day is a great opportunity to highlight that and to remind people that everyone has a role to play in caring for the freshwater that’s so essential to our environment, lifestyles and livelihoods,” Chairman Leeder said.

Council's World Water Day activities today include hosting of a Waiora Healthy Water workshop for Bay of Plenty teachers in Paengaroa. Council scientists will be showing the teachers how to assess stream health and deliver a teaching unit about people's impacts on water. This evening, Regional Council Senior Planner Nicki Green will be presenting at the Sustainable Backyards Beautiful Water Beautiful Life Speakers Forum event at Baycourt.

Chairman Leeder said that Regional Council staff work on the ground with local landowners, businesses, iwi and the wider community, to reduce run-off and pollution into local waterways, manage aquatic pests and maintain good water levels.

"Our scientists run more than 25,000 water quality tests each year to see what’s happening with the region’s water. We’ve also got work underway to improve the rules for water quality and quantity management in the region through publicly notified changes to the Regional Water and Land Plan,” said Chairman Leeder.

To subscribe to email updates or find out more about Regional Council’s freshwater work visit www.boprc.govt.nz/freshwaterfutures.

ENDS

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