Science Media Centre

In the lead up to the election, the Dominion Post has quizzed National and Labour on what the key issues are in the agricultural sector. Excerpts (read in full here): Big issues loom over agriculture With Parliament rising on Thursday, and campaigning for Election 2011 getting under way in earnest, the parties were asked to [...]

The Hauraki Gulf is suffering from extensive environmental degradation due to a variety of factors, according to a report released this week. The report was produced  by The Hauraki Gulf Forum – a joint committee of the Auckland and Waikato councils, government departments and tangata whenua– which reports every three years on the state of [...]

Hydraulic fracturing — a technology commonly known as “fraccing” or “fracking” — widely used in the oil and gas industry overseas has recently triggered some controversy in New Zealand, with critics raising questions over potential environmental impacts. Though the technology has not long been used in New Zealand, it is expected to be a key [...]

New Zealand’s waterways will not being getting cleaner any time soon under current government policies, according to a new report examining freshwater management. The report was produced by the Cawthron Institute and commissioned by Fish & Game New Zealand. The document analyses the government’s current National Policy Statement (NPS) on Freshwater Management to see how it stacks [...]

Following claims that trout are responsible for the decline in New Zealand’s freshwater quality, scientists stepped forward to set the record straight. In a speech last week, Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson Lachlan McKenzie, accused introduced fish of contributing significantly to the declining water quality. The Science Media Centre highlighted the reaction from freshwater scientists who felt the [...]

UPDATED: Scientists are questioning statements by a prominent dairy industry representative, suggesting trout are a ‘disastrous species’ — no better than ‘freshwater stoats’ — and that farmers have been unfairly blamed for their impacts on declining water quality. These allegations were made in a speech last week by outgoing Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson Lachlan McKenzie, urging members to use [...]

The government’s latest plans for freshwater quality and irrigation have made some progress towards a more environmental national policy on our water quality, but are further steps necessary? The Sunday Star Times columnist, Rod Oram, has provided his opinion on what is really needed to make the freshwater National Policy Statement work. An excerpt (read [...]

A recently released report by NIWA has said that a third of the monitored lakes in New Zealand have poor water quality. Further, the report states that more lakes are deteriorating in quality than are improving, with much of the deterioration linked to agriculture. Media coverage: (oldest first) ONE News: Third of NZ lakes of [...]

Wrangling over water issues Polluted rivers, dirty dairying, greening the MacKenzie Country, dams for hydro-power and water allocation — these are just some of the big water issues that have been in the headlines in recent months. Although freshwater is relatively abundant in New Zealand, uneven distribution of water resources and increasingly intensive use have [...]

Gerald Piddock writes in the Timaru Herald about groundwater – scientists say that the impact on our groundwater of intensive agriculture might not be known for decades, as it could take that long for any contaminants to reach monitoring sites. While effects on shallow groundwater might be seen fairly rapidly, effects on deep groundwater would [...]