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Urban development and fresh water

Cities and towns exhibit some of the most intensive land use in New Zealand. It is not surprising that some of our most degraded streams are in these urban areas. Stormwater runoff has the greatest effect on urban water quality and also on the flows of urban water.

In New Zealand the effects of urban areas on water quality are most obvious in Auckland. Other centres, such as Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin are not as large or intensely developed as Auckland and the surrounding catchments are currently dominated by other land uses. As these areas grow, urban effects will need to be increasingly considered in terms of good water management practices.

We need to take action now to prevent further decline in water quality of urban waters, and to protect our pristine water bodies. There are steps we can all take to be more efficient with water in our own homes.

Also, the Ministry is working with regional and local councils to ensure that the quality and use of urban waters is well managed.  The Government is developing national policies, such as the proposed National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management, to ensure that these objectives are met.

Methods to improve discharges could include improved discharge treatment, riparian planting, wetland restoration and public education programmes, as well as improved approaches to town planning and development, such as low-impact urban design.

Further information

  • See the fresh water page for related reports, monitoring, policies, regulations, projects, partnerships, guidelines and tools about fresh water.
  • For information on improving water use at home see the sustainability website.
  • For more information on urban issues refer to our urban publications or our urban issues pages.
  • For a full list of publications relating to water refer to the water publications page.

Last updated: 2 December 2008