Recreational water
Recreational water describes any body of water (still or flowing) that people come into contact with when they undertake recreational activities (e.g. bathing, water sports, domestic shellfish collection, etc)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been established with parties involved in this area to work cooperatively to ensure that the water quality guidelines for marine and freshwater recreational areas are implemented and managed across Otago and Southland.
The objective of the MOU is for parties to:
- Work together to ensure safe, healthy waterways for future generations
- Ensure fresh and coastal waters in Otago and Southland are safe for contact recreation and the gathering and human consumption of shellfish
The purpose of the MOU is:
- To describe the roles of the organisations when managing the health risks associated with recreational water contact
- To develop a cooperative approach to the management of recreational water quality
- To ensure each organization participates in accordance with the MOU
- To consider new monitoring and response programmes for emergent issues
City and District Councils:
- Communicate and educate on human health risks of recreational waters in Otago and Southland
- Advise the public when action and alert levels have been reached (as per Ministry for the Environment and Ministry of Health guidelines)
- Maintain permanently erected signs where necessary. The purpose of signage is to raise awareness of potential risks, what to look for and to avoid. Signage is most useful at low performance sites which continually reach action levels due to high rainfall events/rough weather
- Maintain a register of the location of signs and status
- Assist the other agencies in pursuit of their responsibilities
If you have an enquiry you should contact Environment Southland, Public Health South or the Environmental Health team.
