Water pollution in the West Coast region

[5] The water on Lake Brunner has been monitored since the 1990s and its quality has remained relatively high, although there are concerns about the effects of significant pasture drainage from local dairy farms.

[6] North of Westport Water from the Stockton open cast coal mine pollutes the Ngākawau River.

It took a concerted effort on the part of local environmentalists to get the regional council to insist on the farm installing effluent ponds.

These ponds then largely discharged into the river via a drain for many years, and were washed out during floods until a particular complaint in 2016 got the regional council to insist on an upgrade, and a shift to above the floodline.

The river at the popular swimming hole in Seddonville is perhaps cleaner in summer 2019 than it has been in many years, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.