17 Sep 2025

Nitrate emergency declared in Canterbury

From Checkpoint, 4:49 pm on 17 September 2025

A nitrate emergency has been declared in Canterbury, after regional councillors voted in favour of a declaration by a narrow majority of two votes. It comes after ECan's recent annual groundwater survey found both E. coli and nitrate concentrations were increasing. Councillor Greg Byrnes voted in favour of the emergency declaration and spoke to Lisa Owen.