Drink Swim Fish — rivers, oceans and drinking water policy
Pitched as the Green Party's plan to guarantee clean drinking water, swimmable rivers and a healthier ocean — an eight-point package announced 6 July 2026 covering freshwater standards, wastewater rules and marine protection together.
The Policy: Green Party "Drink Swim Fish" policy package — July 2026 →
What it does
- Sets stronger national drinking-water standards, including lowering the nitrate limit from the current 11.3mg/L NO₃-N toward levels closer to Denmark's 1.3mg/L NO₃-N (RNZ)
- Strengthens wastewater discharge rules and gives water regulator Taumata Arowai stronger enforcement powers (Otago Daily Times)
- Bans bottom trawling on seamounts and phases out set netting and dredging
- Phases out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and reduces stocking rates on a catchment basis
- Reaffirms the party's existing commitment to legally protect 30% of New Zealand's moana — tracked in full detail on the tracker's separate Healthy Ocean Act entry, since that specific target predates this announcement
- Supports kaitiakitanga Māori-led marine management and iwi-led restoration funding, and would review the Quota Management System
The result
Not yet costed as a full package, and not before Parliament — this is an election pledge, not law. Co-leader Marama Davidson frames the drinking-water plank in stark terms: "It is madness that in Aotearoa, up to 100,000 people become sick from unsafe drinking water" (RNZ). On the other side of the ledger, the commercial fishing sector the bottom-trawling ban would affect employs around 9,000 people and generates close to $2 billion in value, and roughly 70% of the fish New Zealanders eat domestically comes from bottom-trawl caught stock — so a full ban would mean a genuine transition for an industry that currently supplies most of the fish on New Zealand plates. The package's ocean-protection plank is not new: it repeats the 30%-by-2030 "30x30" target the Greens have pursued since their 2023 Healthy Ocean Act policy (tracked separately — see link above), so its prospects track the same one: unrealised after the 2023 election, and unlikely to advance without the Greens holding the balance of power after the next election, due by November 2026.
This overview is summarised by AI from public sources. It may contain errors and is a guide, not the definitive record — we welcome corrections.
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Key milestones
Green Party announces Drink Swim Fish policy
The Green Party announced its "Drink Swim Fish" election policy, an eight-point package it says will deliver clean drinking water, swimmable rivers and healthier oceans. Co-leader Marama Davidson said it was "madness" that up to 100,000 people a year get sick from unsafe drinking water. The package includes banning bottom trawling on seamounts, lowering nitrate limits for drinking water, legally protecting 30% of New Zealand's ocean territory (moana), and phasing out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.
Nitrate limit and wastewater details reported
The Otago Daily Times reported further detail on the drinking-water plank: the Greens want the nitrate limit for drinking water lowered from the current 11.3mg/L NO₃-N, citing Denmark's tighter 1.3mg/L NO₃-N standard as a benchmark, alongside strengthened wastewater discharge rules and expanded enforcement powers for water regulator Taumata Arowai.
Public reaction across platforms
Aggregated public reaction — Green supporters welcomed the drinking-water and ocean-protection commitments as overdue, while some voices in the fishing and farming sectors pushed back on the bottom-trawling ban and fertiliser phase-out as costly and unworkable on short notice.
See the conversation:
Aggregated — individual posts are not cited.
Sources
- RNZ — Green Party would ban bottom trawling under its rivers and oceans policy package ↗
- Otago Daily Times — Greens announce 'drink swim fish' election policy ↗
- Newstalk ZB — Green Party releases drinking water, oceans and rivers policy ↗
- Scoop — Green Party would ban bottom trawling under its rivers and oceans policy package ↗