WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

摘要

Water, that most precious resource and our life-giving force, has been in the news a lot lately as residents in Hawke's Bay and the lower North Island struggled with contaminated water. It brings into stark relief the fact that this is a resource none of us can take for granted, so I was interested to read the Minister of the Environment Nick Smith's 2016 Lincoln Environment Lecture which contained some fascinating facts around New Zealand's water supply. While the lecture was addressing freshwater management initiatives and challenges, we've pulled out some of it which highlighted just how much water we have and how it is used: 600 trillion litres in fact and we use 11 trillion. See page 2.