Forest and Bird spokesperson Nicky Snoyink said the environment needed action, not another report tracking declining water quality. "We've seen report after report that highlights this stuff - this one sheets home that our freshwater is at breaking point." It was entirely possible to turn things around, and other countries who had experienced similar declines were making huge gains in their freshwater quality, he said. While not everyone was as concerned as they should be at the rate of indigenous freshwater fish threatened with extinction - 89 percent, among the highest in the world - freshwater quality affected everyone, Ling said. She said the figures on the country's unsafe rivers, or groundwater that was unsafe to drink were "entirely unacceptable."

Source: Stuff April 09, 2026 23:53 UTC