Our special waters

Tasman District has more than 14,300 kilometres of rivers and streams, 81 lakes, tarns, wetlands, aquifers and springs, including Te Waikoropupū Springs with some of the clearest water ever measured. Our coastline stretches for well over 700 kilometres and we have many iconic beaches, spectacular coastlines, and unique coastal places, including estuaries where our freshwater meets the sea. These include Waimea Inlet, Motueka sand spit, Abel Tasman, Whanganui Inlet and Onetahua / Farewell Spit.

These freshwater bodies are valued as places where people live, play, earn livelihoods, relax, gather food, and practice cultural activities.

Our freshwater environments are always changing and feature a diverse range of ecosystems and habitats which are home to some amazing plant and animal species, often found nowhere else on earth.

Some of our freshwater bodies have changed dramatically since European settlement. They may have been dammed, had water drained or diverted, lost their margin vegetation, had waste and sediment discharged into them, or invasive plants and animals introduced.

The land draining into these waterbodies has been cleared for agriculture, forestry, and urban development, altering surface water run off and generating contaminants. Our activities in and around these waterbodies can also affect natural processes and impact on the habitat of our native plants and animals.

What has our monitoring told us about the health of our waterbodies?

Tasman District Council monitors over 50 freshwater quality sites, covering groundwater and surface water, and 13 bathing water quality sites. This monitoring, as well as targeted investigations, reveals that while the overall state of freshwater quality in the Tasman District is good, many smaller, low-land streams in urban, pastoral, horticultural or forestry dominated catchments are under pressure and have degrading water quality and biodiversity values.

There are areas of groundwater contamination and a risk that this may increase with more intensive or changing land uses.

The scientific data we have combined with local knowledge demonstrates the need for improved protection and restoration of our freshwater ecosystems to meet our obligations to protect and enhance water health - for more information on this see our Te Mana o Te Wai page.