The pollution of the Waihi River

The Waihi River in South Canterbury was the place where I used to swim and fish as a child. It is now seriously polluted, along with the nearby Opouha River

Paradise Lost

My corner of Paradise poisoned

Choose Clea Water

Marnie Prickett is part of group touring around the country to draw attention to diminishing water quality. She is part of the Choose Clean Water tour, traveling down the east coast of both islands, then up the west, finally finishing in Waitangi on Waitangi Day. The group will be filming their travels, engaging with locals to find out about what's polluting our waterways and what people are doing to restore their streams, lakes and rivers. On the tour she will be stopping to see Jill Roberts in Geraldine. Jill has been a resident in the town for 10 years and has seen the water quality of the river diminish quite significantly

Here is a desription of Waihi Gorge from the Department of Conservation

Located on the banks of the Waihi River, this campsite is a popular spot surrounded by kahikatea, mataī and lowland tōtara forest. Swim in the river

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/canterbury/places/geraldine-area/things-to-do/waihi-gorge-campsite/

Other stories from the very same region

Residents: Buried DDT contaminating South Island lake

DDT dumped in Opuha River

White granules identified as DDT have been dumped into the Opuha River near Skipton Bridge in South Canterbury

Lake Opuha could run dry in a month

A 700 hectare lake in South Canterbury could be dry by the end of next month if the area does not get significant rain.