Swimming and recreation
Healthy water bodies are places where people want to swim!
Our position in a nutshell
Our communities don’t want to just look at their waterways, they want to get into them. Parents want to play with their kids in the river. Teenagers want to jump off the rocks into the water. Communities want to continue our important social and cultural traditions that are centred on getting into waterways.
You will need to plan to maintain and improve water bodies for swimming, and other types of recreation in your regional plan. This requires you to think about:
water quality (measured particularly but not only by microbiological indicator, E. coli);
water quantity;
river form; and
access.
In other words, healthy water bodies are places where people want to swim. Ecosystem health supports swimming and recreation.
Swimming and recreation will likely be your communities’ most regular, and tangible connection to, and value of, freshwater. So, swimming and recreation provide an important link between your community and all other parts of the NPS-FM.
The NPS-FM establishes a national goal to make 90 percent of the total length of rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand swimmable by 2040 in Policy 12, (as set out in Appendix 3 of the NPS-FM). Human contact with water through activities such as swimming, and for other recreation or cultural purposes, has always been a central part of all iterations of the NPS-FM, alongside ecosystem health. However, safe access to clean, swimmable rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand is so highly valued by our communities that it was a key driver for redeveloping the NPS-FM.
Human health is directly affected by contact with water relating to peoples’ physical health. It should be considered as a second-tier obligation in the NPS-FM Te Mana o te Wai hierarchy.
The NPS-FM directive
Policy 12 is a strong directive in the NPS-FM to maintain or improve freshwater so that it is safe for primary contact and contributes to national targets for primary contact. Primary contact is any use of a water body that could result in full immersion in a waterway. Full immersion will likely occur with swimming and bathing but it also includes activities like water sports such as kayaking and rafting, and cultural practices such as a ritual/ ceremony like tohi (baptism) (see other values to consider in Appendix 1B under 3 Wai tapu). Under the NPS-FM, a water body is considered suitable for primary contact if it is in the C band or higher for E.coli and cyanobacteria set out in Table 9 and 10.
By 2030, your region must contribute to the national goal that 80 percent of lakes and rivers are suitable for primary contact, meaning water quality is within the targeted colour bands blue, green or yellow. (Footnote 1) By 2040, 90 percent must achieve this target. You should specify how you are going to contribute to that national goal over time and indicate your interim targets. Managing water quality is central to delivering on the compulsory value of human contact and achieving the primary contact goals in Appendix 3 of the NPS-FM. Water quantity can also influence this. For example, when there is very low flow water quality problems such as algae blooms can be exacerbated.
Human contact is a compulsory value and it encompasses more than just having primary contact with water. It means there is an expectation that all New Zealanders should have access to enjoy and connect with all freshwater through their experiences and activities that water bodies facilitate such as waka ama, sailing, kayaking, rowing and all other water sport, and Mahinga kai. This compulsory value specifically recognises that a range of flows or levels are required to enable a variety of activities at these water bodies so you will need to know what people use each water body for and when they use them.
Likewise, the NPS-FM also highlights in Appendix 1A 2, that a range of matters may need to be considered to suitably support people connecting with and using water bodies. Matters include the level of weed growth, pathogens, visual clarity, amenity. Other contributing factors are temperature (as it relates to ecosystem health and factors such as nuisance algal growth) and other toxicants present. These attributes may contribute to whether people are encouraged and/or able to interact with or access water bodies or not. Clause 3.30 requires you to annually publish data on the human contact value, including actual data from monitored sites for all relevant attributes.
The NPS-FM contains compulsory attributes for contact recreation for E. coli and cyanobacteria. At a minimum:
You must identify primary contact sites in the region. Primary contact sites are locations that are or would be (if water quality was better) regularly used for water based activities, like swimming or water sports.
You must monitor primary contact sites for both their health risk to people and their suitability for activities that take place (or that there is a desire to take place) in those water bodies.
To do this, you will need to identify where and what times of year people are more likely to bathe or undertake regular recreational activities such as summertime or certain sporting seasons (e.g., whitewater kayaking often occurs during winter when flows are higher).
You need to take weekly sampling for E. coli during the bathing season
You must report back to the public of E. coli levels.
You must take all practical steps to ensure these sites can be used for activities and swimming during this time and you will need to put up signs if it becomes unsafe for people to use the water body.
Footnotes
1. Contact recreation: Recreational activities that bring people physically in contact with water, involving a risk of involuntary ingestion or inhalation of water = the definition in Microbiological Water Quality Guidelines for Marine and Freshwater Recreational Areas (2002).
Primary contact site: under the NPS-FM definition means a site identified by a regional council that it considers is regularly used, or would be regularly used but for existing freshwater quality, for recreational activities such as swimming, paddling, boating, or water sports, and particularly for activities where there is a high likelihood of water or water vapour being ingested or inhaled
What do we want to see?
People must be able to swim, fish and gather food without getting sick in places they want to swim and recreate. If communities cannot currently do this, your regional plan must demonstrate how this will be achieved. The act of getting into natural bodies of water for swimming, sports, recreation fishing and gathering kai is part of our culture. It is a realistic and reasonable expectation.
The NPS-FM includes attributes for human contact that manage E. coli and cyanobacteria (Tables 9 and 10 of Appendix 2A). However, we want you to set target attribute states for other attributes such as for visibility and periphyton in rivers. If you cannot see the bottom easily, it looks unsafe or there is slime or discolouration, people will be less likely to use the water and it is your responsibility to ensure people can.
We expect you to work with the community to identify locations across the region to determine not only where people swim currently, but where they want to swim and recreate. This will require robust engagement and time to build the necessary relationships to find out where people used to go, where they go now, and where they want to go to recreate in fresh water bodies. This will be particularly crucial for engagement with tangata whenua to ensure their cultural knowledge is both provided for and protected in a way that meets their needs and aspirations for whānau and the wai.
Where sites have been identified for swimming and recreation, we want to see long-drops and pit toilets that are within a proximity to these locations, controlled by more robust design parameters to meet summer month demand and avoid faecal matter from leaching and risking E. coli, giardia and campylobacter entering swimming and contact recreation areas.
We want to see degraded water bodies mapped to inform the public of what the condition of these water bodies are. Recreational and swimming sites must be readily accessible across local areas to address issues of equity and opportunity to connect with these environments for all of your community – not just those with vehicles. Access to water bodies provides opportunities for people to connect, learn about risk (safely) and engage with natural environments, providing mental and physical health benefits, (footnote 2) in ways that do not cost money.
Water bodies are your natural recreation and community facilities. Land access to these water bodies are often owned by the Department of Conservation or local councils reserves team, so they should be managed and align with other parts of your region’s community strategy and delivery packages, such as reserve management plans and transport connections. (Footnote 3)
Providing for swimmable rivers and lakes will help you to meet other requirements in the NPS-FM such as providing for natural form and character, setting flows and levels, setting nutrient outcomes, indigenous species provisions and the overall purpose of Te Mana o te Wai - to provide for the health and well-being of water bodies and freshwater ecosystems first. Improved water quality and providing for a range of flow options that meet the needs of recreational use is also a win-win for the community and the wai.
Footnotes
2. Stewart, C et al. (2024). Exploring the relationship between trout fishing and wellbeing: insights from Aotearoa New Zealand trout anglers. Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Soiences Online
3. The Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy 2020 can align with work to manage access by reducing invasive weed species such as gorse and other problem plants on water edges.
How should the NPS-FM be implemented?
Use swimming and recreation as a starting point to engage on all aspects of the NPS-FM
Discussion on swimming and recreation is a good place to begin your engagement with the community on the NPS-FM and develop their long-term visions for water bodies.
Where people want to swim and recreate is closely linked to their vision for healthy water bodies and safe places to enjoy. It is something that most people can understand and connect with, so when you engage with the community on their values, use their language to communicate seemingly more technical elements of the NPS-FM.
If the community want a clean, clear water body, with enough water to get in safely, talk about setting sediment target attribute states (TASs), environment flows and levels, and take limits as well as setting instream nutrient outcomes. Most of our communities want ‘nice’ places to swim and recreate, so also think about the provision for natural form and character and vegetated riparian margins.
People don’t want to get sick when they swim in their local swimming hole, so talk about the concept of Te Mana o te Wai. You can explain its priority to protect the health and well-being of water bodies and freshwater ecosystems first and how this supports great swimming holes. Use it to explain why you might need to put limits on (rules around) activities such as intensive winter grazing and other input controls. If they want to see and explore the insects and bugs who live in the river or go fishing in the holidays and after school – then talk about providing excellent habitat for Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous freshwater species, and about trout and salmon, including species interactions. If they are concerned about the effects of climate change on their swimming spots and more intense and frequent storm events, then discuss river extent (providing space for rivers to flood safely) and the superpower of wetlands to lessen flood impacts!
Swimming and recreation conversations cut through nearly every part of the NPS-FM and can support people’s understanding of Te Mana o te Wai, natural character and why we make plans and rules. It is all here and it’s up to you to make this an important and engaging process for your community and tangata whenua to get involved in and care about.
Ask the right questions to find the right places to protect and monitor
Swimming and recreational activities are the point at which most of us consciously connect with freshwater. Physically connecting with water is where the public are most able to determine a water body’s health and well-being, based on whether they enjoy being there and feel an urge to jump into a lake or river, for example.
You must monitor places where people are likely to recreate or want to be, so use communities’ own expertise, based on their own experiences, to determine which sites to report on for human contact.
Most people will have had an experience with natural water bodies so when engaging with communities’ on the NPS-FM, ask the right questions to make sure you are monitoring and managing the right areas for human contact. These questions could include:
Where did you use to swim as a kid / where do you swim now?
Which water bodies do you see in your everyday life and where would you go to access them?
Do you have examples of a place you would like to swim or recreate that you no longer can? What are the barriers to use?
In what season does your sport use the natural water body (lakes, rivers)?
Manage land use upstream to provide for recreational values
You will need to manage the activities upstream to reach the desired outcomes for swimming and recreation in specific areas. This means identifying and controlling sources of microbiological risks, setting nutrient outcomes and sediment limits upstream to provide for the water quality and clarity your community wants to enjoy in swimming holes downstream. See practice notes on Setting sediment target attribute states, Setting instream nutrient outcomes and Control intensive winter grazing.
We do not want you to rely on ‘reasonable mixing zones’ as a treatment solution to manage activities upstream or as a buffer for land use activities. Most people will not know where these areas are and there is a misconception that mixing will dilute the discharge. Often there is limited initial physical mixing, and there remains a ‘stream’ of unmixed discharge well beyond the extent of 200 metres. We expect there to be greater on-site treatment controls that require the polluter to discharge at a higher quality and for all water bodies to meet target attribute states.
Microbiological risks may include septic tanks, wastewater plants, as well as agricultural land use and activities. Risk may also come from long drop or pit toilets, often found in public reserves on lake shores or near rivers, and especially in summertime when usage is typically higher.
In cases where faecal contamination is significant (Ministry for the Environment Microbiological Water Quality Guidelines for Marine and Freshwater Recreational Areas), but the source of faecal contamination is not clear, faecal source tracking can provide insight and support your planning and rulemaking. You will need to identify the source of the indicator (E. coli for freshwater) to determine what the faecal source is. For example, is it from humans, birds, livestock or all three? Sources may vary over time and river flow state. Once you have proven there is a pathogen threat (not just the indicator) and you understand the spatial and temporal key contaminant source, then develop a management action to deal with the issue. You will need to thoroughly identify faecal sources and how they change with circumstances before deciding a management approach and to avoid unproven assumptions as to source(s). We expect management plans will be implemented on a case-by-case basis to address a given situation.
Identify flow that is sufficient for recreational values
You will need to consider flow as well as quality so that there is enough water for people to do activities they value. You will need to consult with your community about what recreational values they hold for each water body and ensure that there is sufficient flow built into your allocation regime to safely meet each recreational need. It may be kayaking, fishing, boating or swimming, each activity with its flow preference during different times of year.
These recreational needs are often forgotten when setting environmental flows and levels. See our practice note on Environmental flows and levels and take limits.
How we know the NPS-FM is being achieved
Lakes and rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand will be clean enough and healthy enough for people to experience a range of recreational, spiritual, and cultural activities at the times of year that they want to. Very few people will become sick through their contact with natural water bodies and people will have free access to local places to swim and connect with the wai.
Your regional plan will recognise recreational flows and levels and they will ensure that water quality meets the needs for human contact to contribute to the national targets set out in Appendix 3 of the NPS-FM.
Implementation Toolbox
The toolbox will continue to be developed as new information becomes available:
Tools: are helpful diagrams, processes, or ways to support how you should implement the NPS-FM.
Examples: provide text suggestions to help draft objectives (values and environmental outcomes), policies, and rules (limits) in your regional plans, including how monitoring could be achieved. It includes examples of how attributes and base line states, target attribute states, environmental flows and levels, and other criteria, where appropriate, can be written or presented to help achieve environmental outcomes.
Case studies: illustrate where the NPS-FM has been well applied (or not) throughout the country and provides national or international lessons to help implement the NPS-FM.
Evidence: provides relevant case law to support how the NPS-FM must be applied.
Resources: provide links to supporting literature and best information available to implement the NPS-FM.
Tools
ERC (the Institute of Environmental Science and Research) are a Crown Research Institute specialising in science that safeguards the health and wellbeing of Aotearoa New Zealand’s people and natural environment. They have a service to provide scientific advice and expertise on the management of recreational water (among other aspects such as drinking water, groundwater and wastewater) by helping to detect and manage the risk of pathogens and contaminants in water bodies.
Examples
[When available]
Case studies
[When available]
Evidence
[When available]
Resources
NIWA. (2017). Recreational water quality monitoring and reporting in New Zealand: A discussion paper for Regional and Unitary Councils. Contributors: Juliet Milne, Anna Madarasz-Smith and Tim Davie.
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR). Recreation Water quality guidelines
Fish & Game, Forest & Bird and Choose Clean Water have written this practice note to communicate their expectation on how regional councils should implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM) into their regional plans. This is one in a series of practices notes which have been prepared on various topics relating to NPS-FM implementation.
