Land Use, Water Quality and Human Health Risk: Results from Two Small Agricultural Catchments

Abstract

Recent improvements in surface water quality in New Zealand have been attributed to a reduction in point source pollution (Ministry for the Environment, 1997). Attention has now shifted to the effects of diffuse, non-point source pollution associated with agricultural run-off, and its impact on the microbial quality of freshwaters. Indicator organisms such as faecal coliforms are frequently used to monitor faecal contamination of streams and rivers, and to assess the safety of recreational bathing sites. Conflicting data exist regarding the relationship between indicator organisms and actual disease-causing pathogens such as Campylobacter (Jones, 2001). Campylobacter is the most common cause of gastrointestinal illness in New Zealand and has previously been detected in pastoral catchments in New Zealand (Till et al., 2000). The influence of land use on the distribution of faecal coliforms and Campylobacter was investigated at different spatial scales in two small agricultural catchments in Otago.

Department(s)

Biological Sciences

Document Type

Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Publication Date

2002

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