Water pollution is an environmental issue on the West Coast of New Zealand.
Water resources and water pollution come under the jurisdiction of the Resource Management Act and is controlled by the regional councils - for the West Coast it is the West Coast Regional Council.
A 2008 State of the Environment report showed that:[1]
The West Coast has a long history of mining and some of the waterways suffer from acid mine drainage as a result of the leaching of acidic water from mining activity.
Eighty two percent of the population is supplied by reticulated drinking water with 28% having some form of treatment to improve water quality. None of the water supplies reach drinking water standards.[2]
The water in Lake Brunner has been monitored since the 1990s and it shows that the water quality of the lake is declining.
Water from the Stockton open cast coal mine pollutes the Ngakawau River.