Fed-up locals are rallying outside Environment Canterbury this morning, handing back contaminated drinking water in protest at years of council inaction that has left rural families unable to safely drink from their kitchen tap.

Greenpeace’s Canterbury-based spokesperson Will Appelbe says "Today, we’re delivering nitrate contaminated drinking water from homes across the region to the people responsible for that contamination, because Environment Canterbury have failed in their duty to protect lakes, rivers, and drinking water."

"Instead of defending Canterbury’s water, ECan has waved through intensive dairy expansion and the excessive use of synthetic fertiliser. That has to change."

Today’s rally takes place as councillors head into their final meeting before the local elections. At this meeting, councillors will vote on a motion to declare a 'Nitrate Emergency’ - put forward by Councillor Vicky Southworth.

"We’re calling on all Environment Canterbury candidates running in the local elections to make a serious commitment to fresh water by protecting lakes, rivers, and drinking water in our region."

In July, news broke that Environment Canterbury had approved more than fifteen thousand extra dairy cattle onto the Canterbury plains in just seven months. Last week an Environment Canterbury study revealed 48% of private drinking wells tested for nitrate near Burnham exceeded the legal health limit of 11.3 mg/L

Appelbe warns that Environment Canterbury hopefuls will face scrutiny over freshwater pollution if elected to council.

"Today ECan councillors will leave this building for the last time before jumping on the campaign trail to try to win Cantabrians’ votes. And we’re here with people from across the region to say that we don’t want more dirty dairying.

"Candidates in the Environment Canterbury election must defend freshwater by committing to end dairy expansion and phasing out the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. The question is, who will step up to the task?"

Greenpeace has released a scorecard ranking each candidate standing for election to Environment Canterbury, based on their commitment to protecting fresh water. Candidates were asked five questions, with current council members also assessed based on voting history. More information on the methodology and scorecard can be found on Greenpeace’s website.

Notes:

Greenpeace’s water testing programme has been running since 2021. Since then, Greenpeace has run 14 town hall water testing events in Canterbury.

Samples from bores around Ashburton had the highest nitrate levels on average in the region, with some samples being nearly double the Maximum Allowable Value (MAV) for nitrate in drinking water. Several town supplies in Canterbury also are experiencing escalating levels of nitrate, with Waimate’s town supply breaching the MAV in December 2024.

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