The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) and the National Environment Standard (NES) have the potential to reverse or cement New Zealand’s freshwater crisis.
The NPS-FW and NES are expected to be released by the Ministry for the Environment this Thursday 5 September with considerable media coverage.
This freshwater fact sheet is background information journalists may find useful when reporting on the upcoming announcement.
The information has been compiled by four e-NGOs, and provides a reliable and current snapshot of the state of New Zealand’s freshwater environment and the influence of pastoral agriculture.
Urban waterways are in a worse state than rural waterways. However, there have been decades of denial of the influence of intensive agriculture on rural catchments. We include this information so there may be no ambiguity around agricultural impacts on fresh water.
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