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Does she accept the findings of the Environment Southland report on nitrate contamination in groundwater that "Monitoring data, land-use patterns, and established nitrogen cycling science all indicate that agriculture is the primary source of nitrate contamination in Southland’s groundwater", if not, why not?

Answered Question 6172 (2026)
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Asked by

Lan Pham

List MP · Green Party

Question

  • Does she accept the findings of the Environment Southland report on nitrate contamination in groundwater that "Monitoring data, land-use patterns, and established nitrogen cycling science all indicate that agriculture is the primary source of nitrate contamination in Southland’s groundwater", if not, why not?

Answered by

Hon Penny Simmonds

Member for Invercargill · National Party · Minister for the Environment

Answer

Yes. The sources of nitrate pollution are well documented, including in Our Environment 2025 (https://environment.govt.nz/publications/our-environment-2025/) and Our Freshwater 2023 (https://environment.govt.nz/publications/our-freshwater-2023/).