Lake clean-up goal still set for Rotorua

Rotorua Lakes Water Quality Society chairman Don Atkinson says the changes will not affect the work Rotorua Lakes Water Quality Society is doing.

Rotorua organisations are making their own plans to clean up the city's waterways, while the rest of the country remains focused on the Government's set target of making 90 per cent of rivers and streams swimmable by 2040.

In a move the Green Party described as the Government simply "shifting the goalposts" for water quality, rivers will now be rated in "excellent" condition if they contain 540 parts of e.coli per 100ml of water - double the previous standard.

According to current standards, caution is advised when swimming in Ngongotaha Stream or Lake Rotoehu, while Lake Okaro and Utuhina Stream are marked as unsafe.

These waterways will be considered "excellent" under the new regulations.

Don Atkinson, Rotorua Lakes Water Quality Society chairman, said "from our perspective it has little do with what we're about".

Actions have already been put in place around the Rotorua catchment area to fence off streams.

"We're well ahead of the game," he said. "I do worry about what it means for New Zealand, it means deterioration in the standards."

For Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme, the focus is on reducing the amount of nitrogen going into Lake Rotorua, by 320 tonnes per year.

Part of Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Water and Land Plan is a nutrient benchmark which aims to protect water quality in Lake Rotorua, Rotoiti, Rotoeheu, Okaro and Okareka by limiting the nitrogen and phosphorus on land around these lakes.

The proposed plan change to rule 11 will set a nutrient benchmark for all properties within the Lake Rotorua groundwater catchment.

An independent hearing panel has been appointed to ensure the long-term sustainability of Lake Rotorua's water quality and to decide on rules to manage nutrients coming from land use.

Initial hearings on the new rules will take place from Monday, March 13 at the Millennium Hotel.