There are warnings that New Zealand’s freshwater quality could go back decades with a Government plan to roll back regulations.
The new Government has agreed to replace the national policy statement on freshwater, which sets out how land and water can be used to ensure it remains healthy.
They are instead opting to give councils more flexibility in meeting environmental limits, including possibly allowing exemptions.
A key part of the regulation which ACT campaigned to axe is Te Mana o te Wai, or 'the mana of the water', prioritising water health before other interests.
Otago University researcher Marnie Prickett said that the coalition agreements on freshwater would "take us back years, if not decades".
She said that rebalancing Te Mana o Te Wai is a return to the old policy statement which did not work.
"It means they want to prioritise polluting activities over the health of people’s rivers and their drink water," she said.
"If the new Government is allowed to make these changes, our freshwater is in trouble."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the update was about ensuring "those standards are working for all people who have an interest in water, which there are many".
A recent study paints a dire picture of freshwater quality, with E-coli seeping through three-quarters of land into waterways at higher levels than rules allow.
Our Land and Water director Jenny Webster-Brown said that "every report that comes out is a moment of despair".
"We don't seem to be making as much progress as we would like to make," she said.
She said while intensification of land use has gotten in the way of progress, our waterways would be in a far worse state without the regulations.
"It’s certainly not a reason to toss everything away that we've achieved so far and start again."
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