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Introduction
In this essay, I’m analyzing the history of environmental change and the Manawatu River’s current state to understand the effects of environmental change on the Manawatu River. The current state of the river has dramatically changed due to settlement. These settlers have changed the environment and the layers during the physical and economic activities they carry out. Human activities along the river and especially at the source, have tremendous effects on the land. Initially, when the inland of the river was opened up for Europe, it was vegetated all over. This is the time when there were no modern forms of transport like roads and railways. Immediately the forested part was opened to settlement; the forested region was cleared. This has changed the water quality in the river to the current site, which has been polluted.
Manawatu River is a personal investment. The community who cleared the river does not only explain the bush and use the wood to make charcoal timber or for any other purpose, but they also do many activities such as roads and industries. This has led to much change in quality. The current state of the river is far much different from the initial state. Manawatu River is of low quality at the moment. It has been polluted a great deal. Due to reduced forest, the level of the water also in the river has fallen beyond the expectation. Erosion also has been increased and thus much silt and thirty water. The banks of the rivers have also been improved. The deposition of eroded soil within the river may cause flooding.
Most people pollute the river with no consideration of the effects in the future. Most are only concerned with the current benefits of their activities. The factory operators and other industries which dump the waste products to the river have brought negative impacts to the environment and particularly the Manawatu river for this case. Due to the generation of acidic gases to the atmosphere, there has been an increased rate of acid rain leading to an acidic more acidic water flowing to the river. The acidic waste also dumped into the river has raised the PH of the water. This rise in PH endangers the lives of water creatures such as fishes. Among the industries with very his impacts on the river is the sawmilling industry, which clears forested parts while emitting gases and dumping their water products to the river. It is essential that some other parties have seen the effects of the pollution in the river and decide to fight against pollution and clearing of forested parts along the river and most probably at the source. There has been a good practice of planting other trees to prevent soil erosion and act as catchment areas. The res possibility of guiding the river is to everyone though there are some selected organizations to manage. It is crucial to notice that the responsibility of guiding and preventing the negative impacts of human activities on the river are reduced.
Managing water is another vital task. This task has been given to the regional council under the Resource management act 1991. The local council’s roles are to safeguard the river against pollution and the forest surrounding the river while planting new trees for the case where the original trees had been cut down. The council also needs to teach the nearing community on the importance of safeguarding the river. The other role of the regional board is to impose laws and order which need to be adhered to by the community. The management plays an essential role in replanting trees while ensuring that whenever someone fails to comply with the policy given on water, safeguarding face the law and pays dearly for not conserving the environment. It is believed that the management team will reduce the current state of polluted water to a better level. This will, therefore, increases the life of fishes and other water creatures, and thus the river will have an added economic value to the community. Natural resources should be managed with care. Proper management of natural resources will, on the other hand, reduce natural disasters.
The one plan deals with regional resources, which include water air, land, and natural ecosystem. This mentioned resources should be in good condition as per the plan. The atmosphere and water should be fresh with no pollutants, land should be fertile and productive, and the ecosystem must be balanced. The regional policy sets up the objectives and strategies which should be achieved. Over time the council has been amended to fit the current changing situations in the new era. The plan has included and focused on provisions that manage the nutrients lost from existing intensive farming, which includes commercial vegetable growing, dairy farming, cropping, and intensive sheep and beef keeping. This change tries to bring up clarity and amendment of the nutrients framework so that it effectively works towards achieving the strategies for surface water quality set out in the one plan. The plan can be achieved by trying to update the cumulative nitrogen leaching to reflect improvements in the nutrients modeling tools. Secondly, Reinforcement of good management practices as part of intensive farming land use activities; and finally proving a workable pathway for landowners to apply for resource consent for intense farming land use activities that cannot achieve cumulative leaching, maximum. The matter of national significance to which federal policy statement for freshwater management 2014 (Freshwater NPS) applies is the management of freshwater.
The resource management act 1991 is the main legislation that sets out how we manage our environment. It covers both water use and discharges. It sets out the requirements that the local council needs to meet. It is the responsibility of the government to make rules and regulations that the user has to follow. Both the central and local authorities have a vital role to play in making sure the water is safe for drinking. The national environmental standards for source human drinking water set out the regional requirements council must follow to protect the source of water from contamination. The rules affect both the board and the society that benefits most from the river. The rules guide both parties. The difference between the voluntary and the rules mode is that involuntary the community does a better thing to ensure the continuous flow of the river. An example of an optional activity is planting more trees to ensure functional catchment areas and reduce soil erosion.
The one plan rule among the farmers has brought a great struggle. The farmers do not have freedom currently to cut down trees anyhow or polluted the environment with any waste. The farmers also play a significant role in voluntary activates to ensure that the river flow. The farmers’ voluntary actives are mostly encouraged by training them on the importance of water conservation and how to conserve. The advocates struggle a lot to ensure that the community follows the rules and regulations given by the governments. The advocate needs to encourage voluntary activities. This is done by training the members of the society. With forced management, the concerned parties, which are an advocate for this cause, will have a troublesome time. Member of society needs to understand their role in conserving the environment. This would ease the struggle of both the farmers and the advocates. Farmers need to know that spraying the crops with polluted air may alter the PH of the soil and thus reduced crop production. With this knowledge, farmers will be encouraged to conserve the environment voluntarily.
Politics have played a significant role in water conservation. The local and the national government take part in water conservation. The purpose of both parties is enhancing by the political influence, which brings a significant impact on the river. Political leaders play a vital role in conserving the environment and setting up the rules and regulations to be followed. It is also essential to notice that the politicians need to take advantage of any political meeting to give a brief training on the importance of water conservation
In conclusion, I think the rules will help in restoring the Manawatu river for future generations because the society is encouraged to conserve the environment voluntarily or by force if they do not depend on the laws and policies given. I believe the future of the river is better since all the concerned parties are forced with the current state of the river to change the initial made of their activities and ensure the better improvement of the river. If I were the planner, I would recommend planting more trees along the river and forcing the industries to treat the water before dumping them to the river. Also, I would recommend more training on the members of the society in matters related to conserving the environment for the better future of the river.
References
Freeman, M. C. (1986). The role of nitrogen and phosphorus in the development of Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kutzing in the Manawatu River, New Zealand. Hydrobiologia, 131(1), 23-30.
Vale, S. S., Fuller, I. C., Procter, J. N., Basher, L. R., & Smith, I. E. (2016). Characterization and quantification of suspended sediment sources to the Manawatu River, New Zealand. Science of the Total Environment, 543, 171-186.
Quinn, J. M., & Gilliland, B. W. (1989). The Manawatu River Cleanup-Has It Worked?. Transactions of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand: Civil Engineering Section, 16(1), 22.