Action needed now to halt decline of New Zealand’s southern lakes

New Zealand risks losing its unique alpine lakes unless it stops making the same mistakes as North America and Europe, according to University of Otago expert Dr Marc Schallenberg.

Two public meetings are being held in Wanaka this evening to discuss the water quality of Lakes Wanaka, Hawea and Wakatipu, and what can be done about algal blooms known as “lake snow” or “lake snot”.

Dr Schallenberg explains “large lakes in many parts of the world have become severely degraded from pollution and invasive species showing (that) their large size and volume does not make them resilient to degradation. In fact, they appear to be quite vulnerable.”

In the wake of the New Zealand Government announcing a new target of having 90% of New Zealand's lakes and rivers reach swimmable water quality standards by 2040, Dr Schallenberg will address the Wanaka branch of the Royal Society at 7.30pm, along with other water scientists from around the country, council representatives and specialists from the Department of Conservation, the Ministry for the Environment and the Otago Fish and Game Council.

A freshwater expert in the University of Otago’s Department of Zoology, Dr Schallenberg says a “chronic lack of investment” in research and monitoring of the southern lakes had made them a “management blindspot”.

He added “the southern great lakes and their catchments include some of New Zealand’s most cherished and iconic environments and ecosystems, attracting increasing numbers of New Zealanders and overseas tourists.

“Numerous pressures on these lakes include urban development, agricultural intensification, climate change and the arrival of invasive aquatic species. Because of a lack of knowledge, regional water plans are arguably doing the minimum required to safeguard the lakes.”

He raises many questions concerning the occurrence and subsequent spread of lake snot in the Southern Great Lakes as showing how little is known about how New Zealand’s lakes respond to environmental pressures and about what the implications are for water quality and lake users.

He concludes “a concerted research effort is needed to understand how vulnerable our precious large lakes are. Otherwise, we risk making the same mistakes made in North America and Europe in allowing large lakes to degrade.

“This would have serious consequences on New Zealand’s reputation as a relatively unspoilt country, upon which our tourism industry and many of our food export industries rely.”

Dr Schallenberg suggests several solutions:

• Use of lake-monitoring buoys by regional councils to continuously monitor lake health;
• The establishment of an Alpine Lakes Research and Education Centre in Wanaka, supported by agencies and the community;
• Supporting a five-year Southern Great Lakes research programme application to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to study how best to manage the lakes; and
• Further community involvement to help develop more comprehensive lake and catchment management plans.

Image: Lake Wanaka

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