More than $30 million will be spent by Bay of Plenty Regional Council on science, restoration and policy work to protect and improve the region's waterways this year.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chairman Doug Leeder said that the region's waterways are in good shape by national standards, but there's
more work to do to ensure clean, healthy waterways for the next generation.
"We've made real gains in protecting water quality in recent years. But the cumulative effects of past land-use change are still surfacing, and the water management challenges we're tackling are becoming increasingly complex. Science and innovation, along with compromise and investment from all sectors, will be crucial to securing clean, reliable freshwater in the long term," he said.
Council's water work this year includes helping landowners to pinpoint and treat problem E.coli bacteria sources, trial nutrient budgeting methods, and to fence and plant an additional 101km of waterway margins throughout the region. Farm animals are already excluded from more than 75 per cent of the region's waterways.
Investment is also being channelled into science and computerised modelling work that will be used alongside input from local councils, iwi, community groups and industry stakeholders to set new catchment-specific water management rules and methods under the Regional Water and Land Plan.
