A public health researcher says protections over the sources of our drinking water - only recently prioritised - are at risk of being stripped back under changes the government is proposing.
Otago University's public research fellow Marnie Prickett, says the health of waterways, and of drinking water, were clear priorities in the national policy statement on freshwater, issued in 2020, after the deadly Havelock North campylobacter outbreak four years earlier.
Marnie Prickett says the government's draft legislation weakens the current protections over drinking water sources, such as aquifers, rivers or lakes.
RMA reform minister Chris Bishop says the policy landscape has changed significantly since the Havelock North outbreak, and decision makers will need to 'have regard to the actual and potential effects of proposed activities' on drinking water sources.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
