Our Vision
To restore Aotearoa New Zealand’s greatest assets to their natural balance and beauty
The Government has announced a target to make 90% of New Zealand rivers swimmable by 2040. We all know that’s not good enough.
We must reconnect with our natural world and refuse to accept a “norm” that leaves our rivers choking on invasive flora, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, nitrates, E coli, sewerage, and bacteria.
Christchurch has an incredible opportunity now, in the wake of two shared tragedies, to create a shared joy; to come together and become the epicentre of an ecosystem of change. By connecting existing water champions, providing transparent, real-time feedback from our rivers, and mobilising our residents to help each other, this community-led movement aims to provide education, resources, and connections for residents and existing water advocates to help us all work together to make the waterways of New Zealand not just swimmable, but DRINKABLE.
The vision is huge, but we’re starting small, in our own back yard, with just 110m at the head of the Avon River/Ōtākaro. Our first real-time data sensor, Oracle 1, was sited at Corfe Reserve in July of 2019.
The Corfe Reserve restoration project has proven to be a strong success, with Drinkable Rivers successfully igniting the restoration process, however the real success lies in the way the community has carried on this work. Local residents have taken responsibility for maintaining and caring for the space, ensuring its long-term sustainability. With this foundation firmly in place, the focus can now shift downstream, to begin supporting restoration efforts in other areas.
Drinkable Rivers has recently begun its work at Peer Reserve, holding weekly working bees every Wednesday from 4–6pm. Noticeable progress has been made, particularly in improving and cleaning up the western entrance to the reserve. These early results highlight the impact of consistent, collective effort.
In addition to the weekly working bees, the next step is to build momentum through a larger-scale clean-up event on 15 May. This event aims to attract a greater number of volunteers from across the community, helping to accelerate restoration efforts while continuing to foster a strong sense of shared responsibility and environmental stewardship.
“It’s time for us to nurture one of our city’s greatest natural assets and restore the Avon River/Ōtākaro to become the pride of Christchurch, rich in biodiversity and full of vitality once again. Over the next 7 years we will be regenerating the 14 kilometre long Avon River/Ōtākaro. We began in July of 2019 with the first 110 metres at the headwaters in Avonhead. In year two, we’ll do the next 220 metres, year three the next 440 and so on until, in seven year’s time, we will be fishing and swimming in the most beautiful urban river on Earth.”
Drinkable Rivers Founder, Michael Mayell
Drinkable Rivers is proudly aligned with the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
