Editorial: Smith still swimming against the current

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

It's time to be grateful for small mercies ... in this case, very small.

The Government yesterday announced we should be safe to swim in most of our rivers - by 2040.

Personally, I will be too old to go for a dip by then, but it is better than nothing ... just.

The plan from Dr Nick Smith, our environment champion, is to have 90 per cent of New Zealand rivers swimmable in 23 years. Which leads one to assume they must be in a pretty appalling state if it is going to take that long.

This is a bit of a U-turn from Dr Smith who had previously ambitiously set the bar at "wadeable", suggesting that "swimmable" was not "achieveable". That pathetic benchmark left the minister up to his waist in it, and the flak has flowed around him ever since.

So, a change of heart ... the people have been listened to. Perhaps there's an election coming up.

Understandably some environmental groups are shouting "too little, too late".

And there are also concerns that the pollution threshold for "swimmable" has been lowered, with double the amount of faecal contamination to be allowed in waterways that will still be classed as safe - that sounds like a policy nicked from Horizons One Plan.

Before the announcement, the official figures had 38 per cent of rivers good to swim in. A new way of measuring sees that figure leap to 72 per cent - at least by the minister's reckoning.

Dr Smith has been flapping about in the deep end for some time and how he is still afloat as a government minister is a little baffling.

Any hopes that this policy statement would take the clean water issue off the election agenda are likely to sink without trace.