If there’s one thing needed to sustain an economy, it’s water. Without a stable supply of fresh, clean water, eco-systems would die, agriculture would collapse, infrastructure would stagnate and there would be a high rate of disease.
By proxy, this makes water the most precious commodity on our planet. With that in mind, protecting and preserving our fresh water sources should be a national priority. So is it?
The question needs to be asked because a chain of climactic events appears to be threatening the vitality and stability of our natural fresh water resources.
In Canterbury the problem is particularly pressing. Between the offshore sale of spring water adding to the strains of drought, and an expanding dairy industry’s impact on local waterways, the long term picture of our fresh water resources is noteworthy of some consideration.
Aquifers and the offshore sale of spring water
There are at least 11 consents active in Canterbury for the extraction of fresh water for the purpose of bottling and selling.
There are conditions in place to protect the resource, including monitoring the source, its production and extraction levels, but with no central register for water-bottling companies in New Zealand, the total number taken offshore is unknown; a somewhat disturbing fact.
More than 24,000 people have signed an online petition against Ashburton District Council’s plan to sell Lot 9 to a bottling company.
Canterbury’s Water Rights Trust spokesperson, Roger Young says selling the rights to bottle water is better than the alternative of using that water to make milk.
“Perhaps we should applaud overseas companies for making the most of an opportunity New Zealand should have done years ago – sell the water rather than turning it into milk, with its associated environmental impact,” he says.
But should we instead be allocating the use of such water for purposes that contribute to the survival or existence of communities, like irrigation, hydro electricity production and domestic and industrial use in New Zealand, and simply put more appropriate limitations in place?
The impact of drought
Canterbury is experiencing heightened drought conditions and as a result, many river flow levels are among their lowest in years.
If this pattern continues, and consent remains in place to extract water from Lot 9 at a volume of up to 45 litres per second until 2046 – or not exceeding 3,888 cubic metres per day, or 1,419,120 cubic metres per year – the local community will seriously suffer.
One condition for the extraction of water for bottling and selling is that water taken must be replaced by another source, usually a local river from which water would be diverted to an aquifer recharge site. But what happens when our rivers dry up, as data suggests is a very real possibility of continuing at our current rate?
An expanding dairy industry
The dairy industry is steadily growing and with it the amount of water being used for irrigation, and the amount of nitrates contaminating local waterways. With local waterways then used as a water source for many farmers in the area, this circle of life is literally toxic and adds to the deterioration of our fresh, clean waterways.
Improving and maintaining the quality of our waterways and reducing nitrate run off needs our invariable applied attention.
Life without water
For as long as we’ve inhabited New Zealand it has provided a seemingly infinite source of clean, fresh water. Our access to dependable water sources has sealed our position as a first world country.
Two of our most economically fundamental industries depend upon a constant supply of fresh water: dairy and tourism.
Without water the dairy industry would collapse and exports would suffer, and the tourism industry would take a significant hit, either or both of which would result in a certain degree of economic strife and the relative flow on effects.
What can we do?
Is the Sustainable Water Programme of Action implemented in 2003 currently in place doing enough? Do water extraction consent conditions need to be stricter? Should the government put an appropriate cap on the sale of offshore spring water? Should they consider placing restrictions on the size of dairy farms in certain locations?
The Kiwi lifestyle not only supports, but encourages collaborative success.
Is there more we could be doing to prevent running our country’s water resources dry and to, essentially, prevent the collapse of our economy as we know it?
Exactly how much longer will our lifestyle survive if we continue to deplete our local resources at the current velocity of degradation?
By Lydia Truesdale
