Approximately two-thirds of all rivers and one-half of all lakes in New Zealand are too polluted to swim in, according to a recent article in an online newspaper. One of the most polluted is the Tarawera River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Pollution enters the river from a local pulp and paper mill, from local farms and through the local sewage system. Many other rivers in New Zealand are also polluted with waste from businesses and farms.
Use Google to help you find two other polluted rivers in New Zealand.
On your blog, tell us:
1) The names of the rivers - The Heathcote River
2) The location of the rivers - Canterbury
3) What is being done to clean up the rivers (if anything) - Environment Canterbury recently introduced strict new environmental requirements for the region's farmers, requiring most farms to develop Farm Environment Plans showing how farms will take action to mitigate risks like nutrient leaching, soil erosion, effluent risks and protect waterways through actions such as fencing off waterways and undertaking riparian planting. The plans are independently audited. Since the introduction of these new rules, waterways are now showing improvements across a number of measures.
1) The names of the rivers - Grey River
2) The location of the rivers - West Coast
3) What is being done to clean up the rivers (if anything) -government funding was made available to build a sewerage treatment plant.
Bye Danielle sqaud!!
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteIt's Leslie here, a member of the Summer Learning Journey team. You've continued to work so hard on these activities - good on you!! You might even be back in school now, so this is all the more admirable!!
You've done a great job of naming 2 rivers and describing where they are and what's being done to help them. Isn't it sad that so much has to be done to make beautiful, natural rivers clean??
Have you ever seen these rivers? I live in a small town that's built on both sides of a river called the Mississippi (it's definitely not the same one as the famous Mississippi River in the US). We have a swimming beach along the shore and our children love to go there to swim and play in the summer but, sometimes, the water isn't considered clean enough to be safe. Isn't that disappointing!! We're trying to clean things up but the towns up river from us have to do their bit as well...
I hope you've enjoyed this activity. I'm so glad you've made this effort!
I'll keep reading your blog.
Cheers,
Leslie