Farmers improve waterways
New government proposals to ensure cleaner water standards, including keeping stock out of waterways, are unlikely to affect Marlborough dairy farmers who have a good record of fencing off waterways.
Marlborough has one of the smallest dairy herds in the country with 56 farms containing 21,000 cows and its farmers have been following council rules.
Marlborough District Council environment committee chairman David Oddie said council staff had worked with farmers since 2002 to improve water quality in streams and rivers.
The council’s proposed Environment Plan covered much of what was announced by Environment Minister Nick Smith, he said.
’’Many of Marlborough dairy farmers understand what is required to be compliant with council regulations and fence off streams and crossings, he said.
‘‘Farmers here are doing a good job in focusing on water quality.’’
For the past 14 years the council had undertaken a dairy shed effluent and stream crossing survey to improve water quality in conjunction with DairyNZ and Fonterra clean water accords.
Results from last year’s survey showed farmers in the region had installed culverts and bridges to reduce 229 stream crossings in 2002 to 21 crossings.
At the time of the survey there were seven farms remaining which drove stock across an unbridged waterway.
Council environmental policy manager Peri Hawes said the government’s Clean Water proposal would not affect the council’s proposed Environment Plan.
The government proposal recommended pigs ands dairy cattle be fenced off from waterways wider than one metre from July this year, followed by dairy support, cattle and deer from 2022.
Marlborough’s proposed environment plan included intensively farmed stock to be fenced off and did not cover dairy support and beef cattle, or have a slope threshold, Hawes said.
‘‘The government’s proposal goes a step further than our own plan and was a stand alone regulation which will apply to farmers in Marlborough regardless of our plan,’’ he said.
Federated Farmers Marlborough president Sharon Parkes said most dairy farmers in Marlborough had already fenced off lowland areas.
‘‘I am more concerned for farmers who take in dairy grazing or have beef cattle, that it is practical and economic for them to do large scale fencing around gullies and what great advantage do those farmers get from doing it,’’ she said.
‘‘Our rivers in Marlborough have been tested to achieve an ‘A’ grade classification and in future all rivers in the country will be tested to the same criteria.’’
Fed Farmers Marlborough Beef and Lamb spokesman Scott Adams said the responsibility to ensure high water quality had to be shared between rural and urban sectors.
‘‘In high flood prone areas fencing off waterways may be a repetitive task every time there is a flood,’’ he said.
‘‘Because we treat water as a public resource should water quality be the responsibility of the farmers whose property it flows through or the community responsibility?’’
If it fell on farmers to be solely responsible, it became financially stressful for the landowner, he said.
‘‘Farmers are keen to fulfil their obligations but they can’t control the weather and solutions have to be pragmatic.’’