Didymo all-clear no reason to ease off, says council

Taranaki's  waterways have been given the official all-clear for didymo - but the Taranaki Regional Council says this is no cause for complacency.

A total of 13 waterways around the region were tested for the organism by Biosecurity New Zealand, as part of a nationwide survey, and all proved negative for didymo.

All North Island waterways tested were found to be clear.

But regional council director operations Rob Phillips urged people to remain vigilant.

"It's good news, and something we're reasonably optimistic about at this stage," he said.

"But we need to make sure people are still wary and check, clean and dry their equipment - especially in the holiday period when people are moving between the North and South Islands, but also when just moving between different catchments.

"We tend to emphasise the north and south a bit much, but it's a general change in behaviour we would like to see."

- © Fairfax NZ News