New Zealand's Fresh Water

This cartoon refers to the shipment of NZ Miracle drinking water being sent back from China because the level of nitrate in the water is higher than the accepted Chinese standard of 0.005mg per litre. Miracle chief executive Xinghong Ju said that Hawke’s Bay water was chosen for its purity, taste and low mineral content. The irony expressed in the 2016 cartoon was that in the same year China topped the list of the world's deadliest country for outdoor air pollution according to WHO.

Protests in Westland

Gold mining in early New Zealand depended heavily on water for alluvial gold extraction using hydraulic processes. This article reports on the opposition to water-power regulations by the government and the charges imposed by the Mining Act to the Rimu-Seddon’s Terrace goldfield. The general opinion was that these charges would stifle the enterprise. Instead, it was recommended that power charges should be waived until the venture proved to be a success.

Flax polluting rivers

River pollution in New Zealand is not a recent event. Over 100 years ago Acclimatisation Societies claimed that a flaxmiller in Taupiri near Ngaruawahia was polluting the Waikato river. The Auckland Flax millers Association in-turn stated that if a prosecution was taken it would mean the end of not only flaxmilling but also the Dairy industry. Acclimatisation societies were set up around New Zealand in the 1860s. They were responsible for importing plants and animals from overseas countries into New Zealand. Their worry was that if the Waikato became too polluted it would not sustain populations of trout and ducks that were fishing and hunted along the river.

Polluted rivers–exporting water

The tuna in the image are addressing 2 issues currently being hotly debated in New Zealand. The first is the pollution of our rivers which raises questions about our overseas ‘clean green 100%’ image. The second issue is the controversy around the export of bottled New Zealand freshwater to overseas countries by foreign companies.

Green image

Waterways and rivers being polluted by animal excrement and nitrates from farms was much in the news in 2013. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment reported that the country was facing an environmental disaster. However, this farmer seems to disagree. His sample of water in a bottle looks green enough to keep up with New Zealand’s pure, green image. Of course, the green colour of water in his bottle is probably the result of animal excrement or the build-up of algae in the water as a result of nitrates.

Flooding of the Clutha River

The Clutha River is the longest river in the South Island and also has the largest catchment. Petitioners in 1906 requested that the Government take steps to protect properties in South Molyneux, Inch Clutha, Matau and Kaitangata from getting flooded by the Clutha River due to a build-up of silt washed down from gold mines. The Goldfields and Mines Committee, in turn, recommended that the Government send an engineer to report on the silting up of the river bed and that a sum of 300 pounds should be made available to carry out the work required.

The drought

Drought is a result of deficit rainfall and can significantly hamper farming activities as can be seen in this article from 1907. The amount of Cocksfoot (a type of grass) gathered in Banks Peninsula was very small and the supply of milk was reduced by half. In Ashburton many farmers were thinning down their flock by selling them at a loss or sending them to the freezing works to be boiled down for tallow. In Central Otago it was just as bad. The feed for sheep was completely eaten down while the turnip crop was a failure.