Water rights campaigners are taking a call for a moratorium on exporting water to Parliament today.

The Bung the Bore campaign began when the Ashburton District Council tried to sell land with a water consent to a bottled water company.

The sale did not go through, and the group is now presenting a 15,000 signature petition aimed at halting the exports.

Organiser Jen Branje told Morning Report it was about safeguarding resource for future generations.

“We’re asking for a moratorium until the water can be protected in a manner that it cannot continue to be extracted and it’s not a free-for-all on New Zealand water resources.”

She said New Zealand’s aquifers were becoming depleted by irrigation and its rivers were becoming degraded.