Protest for swimmable water

Alana Delich is incensed by the new 'swimmable' water standards rules being proposed for implementation by 2040.

Taupō woman Alana Delich is so incensed by the new 'swimmable' water standards rules being proposed for implementation by 2040 that she's calling for locals to come together to send the Government a message.

Although Alana has never organised a protest before, she feels so strongly about the issue that she's asking for people to gather at the lakefront on Tuesday March 14 at 5.45pm to send a message.

"Here in Taupō we are lucky enough to have excellent water quality in our lake, and excellent rules and regulations that will continue to protect our water quality," says Alana.

"However Kiwis in other areas of the country are not so lucky. The Government's new proposed targets for 90 per cent of rivers and lakes swimmable by 2040 sound nice, until you look at the definition of "swimmable" especially for the yellow 'Fair' category.

"At these 'Fair' swimming areas, the plan says that E.coli levels will meet guideline values 80-90 per cent of the time. The guideline value is less than 540 E.coli per 100ml, which is pretty nasty. At E.Coli concentrations over this level there in about a one in 20 chance of getting campylobacter.

"If you stop to think about it, 80-90 per cent of the time is only equivalent to about six days out of seven. Imagine if every time you wanted to go for a swim you had to wonder if this was the one day of the week where it was not safe to swim?

Or it might be that your swimming hole was safe to swim for 80 per cent of the summer, but by the last few weeks of summer (when it is hottest and you most want to swim) the water quality has declined below the guideline and it is closed for swimming.

If your local swimming hole was classed as Fair, would you really feel like it was safe for swimming?

I certainly wouldn't, and I would feel short-changed by the government for telling me it was."

The Taupō rally coincides with a national day of Save Our Water rallies calling for a stop to water being bottled for free and sold for profit, and an end to pollution of waterways.

The Taupō rally is at 5.45pm at the main lakefront (opposite Pataka Rd) on Tuesday and Alana is urging all people to have a swim, bring a picnic and show their support for more stringent water quality standards.

"Let's get together at our beautiful clean lake for a swim, and show the Government what swimmable really looks like. Let's tell them to aim higher, for actual clean water for all Kiwis."