Findings in a national report on freshwater have confirmed Bay of Plenty's decision to invest $24 million each year into working with locals to protect and improve the region's rivers, lakes, streams and aquifers.
Our fresh water 2017, the first dedicated report on fresh water in New Zealand's Environmental Reporting Series, was released today by the Ministry for the Environment and will become a baseline for tracking change over time.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council's science manager Rob Donald said the results largely reflected what was occurring in the Bay of Plenty and reinforced the council's work as part of implementing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.
"While we have yet to go through the report in detail, we're pleased to see that it shows that our lakes monitoring is on track and we're seeing improvements in our lakes' water quality.
"This is largely due to proactive interventions being delivered by the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme."