The regional council is asking for
views on the plan which will be
notified early next year for formal submissions.
It aims to halt water quality decline in the province and could change how dairy cattle are wintered with proposals including 20m buffer zones along waterways, no more than 15% of a farm used for winter crops and the possibility that consents will be needed for wintering.
Moves are also underway to exclude all cattle, farmed deer and pigs and possibly sheep from waterways more than one metre wide and 30cm deep, and ban land cultivation higher than 700m above sea level.
Tile drains, cultivating all slopes, especially those steeper than 15 degrees, and stocking rates of more than than 15 stock units per hectare could also need consents.
The province has been divided into nine physiographic zones, based on soil type, geology, topography and the source of natural water.
Environment Southland will develop policies and rules for farming within each zone. Some farms will straddle more than one zone.
The zones are Alpine, Central Plains, Old Mataura, Peat Wetlands, Riverine, Lignite-Marine Terraces, Oxidising, Hill Country and Gleyed.
Environment Southland’s monitoring of waterways showed one or more of the main contaminants targeted by the council’s current water plan (sediment, phosphorous, nitrogen and E.coli) were increasing at a “significant number of sites”, especially in areas intensively farmed and on the lowland plains.
“Nitrogen concentrations, particularly in lowland streams and some parts of the region’s groundwater, exceed the criteria for ecosystem health,” according to the discussion document Towards a New Plan.
“Where nitrogen concentration is already high, it is found to be increasing.
“However, due to the high number of tile drains and the nature of the soil in the lowland plains it only takes one to three years for nitrogen to travel to aquifers – one of the fastest rates in the country.
“Southland’s short lag times have a silver lining. By making changes to how we manage the land now, we’ll get to see the positive changes in these nutrient levels in our lifetimes.”
The plan has been described by Federated Farmers Southland president and dairy farmer Allan Baird as “crippling”.
“As proposed, this plan would severely limit or prohibit development, flexibility, and innovation for farming businesses, which will have huge consequences for Southland’s economy,” the fourth-generation Southland farmer said.
“The farming sector will face not only huge compliance costs but also huge costs in lost opportunity under the oppressive consenting regime proposed.”
However, Environment Southland’s policy and planning manager Anita Dawe said the council wanted a non-regulatory approach if possible.
“We are realistic about that. We don’t have the staff to be issuing consents. What we are trying to achieve is to stop the decline in our waterways and we want farmers to tell us what is possible on their farms and we want them thinking about good management practices.”
Dawe said the document was a starting point.
“We haven’t made any decisions. If what we are proposing is not realistic for your farm then tell us.”
DairyNZ’s strategy and investment leader for sustainability Rick Pridmore said it was up to all Southland farmers to tell the council their concerns.
“It’s really important that Southland farmers have their say on these proposals in the Water and Land Plan.
“They will have a big impact on what they can do on their farms for a long time to come and on their ability to remain profitable,” he said.
“While we all support halting the water quality decline while we do more science and economic studies, DairyNZ doesn’t want to see any rules put in place that could prompt farmers to take rash actions before we know the long-term solutions to the water quality issues.
“We shouldn’t have a framework right now that pre-determines solutions before we know what they are – that’s my key concern.
“We need to keep all our options
open at this point in time so we have plenty of room for innovation and implementing the right solutions with farmers.
“There’s a danger with the proposals on the table at the moment that we’re pre-determining what the final result will be before we’ve got all the answers.”
Environment Southland is organising public meetings throughout the province on the plan with the last one at Ascot
Park Hotel in Invercargill on Friday October 9.
DairyNZ and Federated Farmers are also organising meetings for farmers in early October.
A questionnaire on the plan is available on Environment Southland’s website, or by phoning the council on 0800 76 88 45, and must be completed by October 30.
For more information got to www.es.govt.nz/waterandland and www.dairynz.co.nz/environment/in-your-region/southland-environmental-policy/
