Children going swimming or kayaking did not have the patience to look through a website to find out if a particular river was safe, Ms Stewart said in one of 10 submissions to the long-term plan heard by the Otago Regional Council hearings panel in Alexandra yesterday.
Issues from pest control to wilding conifers, biodiversity, water monitoring charge increases for farms, civil emergency management and public transport in Queenstown were discussed.
Chairman of the hearings panel David Shepherd said the council did make water quality information available on its website.
Guardians of Lake Wanaka chairman Don Robertson said the the long-term plan was ''surprisingly weak'' in its regard to Lake Wanaka, with no indication of addressing the long-term management of the lake.
Lakes Hawea and Wakatipu were all ''equally ignored, equally iconic, equally at risk'', and water monitoring that had been going on in the lakes was not adequate.
Cr Shepherd said the council had taken a general approach to labelling water in the plan, which did include the lakes, and they were pristine in terms of water quality.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden made a submission asking the panel to identify funding for Wakatipu public transport services, and contribute funds to wastewater scheme upgrades in small communities and wild conifer eradication.
The panel heard submissions in Balclutha on Monday and will meet in Dunedin today and Thursday.
It will hear submissions from Oamaru on Friday.
A total of 157 submissions were received and about 80 of those were made in person.
The panel would make recommendations for the council to consider at a meeting on June 24.
