20 April 2005

Time for action on water quality, say Greens

It's time the Government stopped talking about fixing water quality and started doing something about it, the Green Party says.

New Zealanders are beginning to realise the depth of fresh water quality problems, thanks to the good work of those groups running the Living Rivers campaign and recent studies that have shown our rivers and waterways are in a terrible state, Green Party Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.

"One report, carried out by NIWA, found 95 percent of New Zealand's lowland rivers and streams were not safe to swim in or drink from.

"The Government has a programme of action - Fresh Water for a Sustainable Future - but so far it has been bogged down in discussion papers and talk with no real sign of anything concrete," she says.

The Green Party is this week distributing 400,000 copies of Green Times newspaper to New Zealand homes - its lead story focuses on the problems facing this country's rivers.

"It's heartening to see in the results of the Lincoln University study that New Zealanders rate their rivers and streams so highly. It is high time the Government does the same," Ms Fitzsimons says.

ENDS

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