New Zealand’s longest waterway has become a meandering river of filth.

The Waikato River is regularly unswimmable and high levels of pollutants have left community members deeply concerned about how much worse it could become.

There is, however, a plan to clean this mess. The only catch is that it’s going to take more than seven decades.

Today, RNZ data journalist Farah Hancock joins Damien to discuss her investigation into what’s gone wrong with this important waterway - and why it has such a long road to recovery. 

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You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Damien Venuto
Producer/Editor: Shaun D Wilson
Executive Producer: Ethan Sills 

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