No simple fix to dirty waterways

OPINION by Pattrick Smellie : Much reporting of the prime minister's chief science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman's research into freshwater resources seemed to shred further the Government's tenuous credibility on this increasingly politicised issue.

Its uncontroversial observation - that human activity in both cities and on farms is at the root of freshwater degradation – was routinely treated as if it were a key finding.

Cue hand-wringing on whether New Zealand can intensify its agricultural production any further than it has already. Yet you will search the Gluckman report in vain for a repudiation of the Government's freshwater management approach. See more.

Agriculture Environment Government Water Quality