Ririnui Mita: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Ririnui Mita: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7508] 
3.  
MITA RIRINUI (NZ Labour—Waiariki) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: What is the Government doing to stop the deterioration of the water quality in Lake Taupo? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 The Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Agriculture are negotiating with local and regional government and Tuwharetoa to stem the deterioration of Lake Taupo’s water quality by managing land use and sewage disposal to reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the lake. 
Mita Ririnui 
: Why are there no short-term solutions to reverse the deterioration of the lake’s water quality? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: We are seeing the results of decades of nitrogen runoff. Lake clarity has been cut from 15 metres to 14 metres by what happened before 1963 so clarity will diminish further by what has happened in the last 40 years. Our work is now focused on how we reduce that nitrogen by 20 percent over the next 15 years. If we do not change what we do on the land then the problem will get worse. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Why did the Minister give the Rotorua District Council a green ribbon environmental award for its report on recycled paper with organic ink and in a bicultural format when this year Lake Rotoiti has been in the worst state ever—bays closed for 6 months; the entire lake closed off—or are flash recycled reports more important than substance for this Minister for the Environment? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The original question was about Lake Taupo. If the Minister wants to comment briefly she may do so. 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I awarded the Rotorua District Council a Green Ribbon Award for its excellent state of the environment report which made effective use of graphics and plain language to communicate the district’s key environmental issues. Those did include the deteriorating water quality in Rotorua’s lakes which has been like the water in Lake Taupo deteriorating for many years and for which there is no overnight solution. The work has begun with Environment Bay of Plenty the local council and also central government working together—not as quickly as in the case of Lake Taupo because they did not come and ask 4 years ago as Environment Waikato did with Tuwharetoa for some help and a partnership in cleaning up Lake Taupo. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Returning to Lake Taupo what assistance in the form of research or any other kind of assistance will be available to landowners to change their land-use practices; does the Government envisage eventually some penalties if people refuse to cooperate? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: To deal with the latter part of the question first at the moment we are offering more carrots than penalties because I would have to say that whenever I fly over the farms on the western side of the lake I can see that the farmers have tried everything they can to mitigate nitrogen runoff. It is the quality of the soil that is causing the problem. So on that part research and investment in research by both central and local government is extremely important in order to find the options for farmers to continue farming in that area.