The money came from the Government’s Fresh Start for Freshwater Clean Up Fund.
The work includes the installation of soil moisture monitoring systems, electromagnetic soil mapping for irrigation efficiency, improved effluent management systems, irrigation application audits, wetland creation in areas of low productivity, spray equipment modification to improve application, tile drain water quality monitoring, fencing and planting riparian margins.
The lake’s water quality by and large has been stable since the mid-1990s despite the intensification of dairying, project director Ian Gunn said.
That was a challenge when a bid for Ministry for the Environment funding was prepared.
“If the lake was stable there wasn’t much we could do to make a big difference within two years,” Gunn said.
But much of the water received by large wetland areas around the lake came from dairying and pump drainage land.
“So we decided we would try and improve the water quality going into and the biodiversity in the edge wetlands around Wairarapa Moana.”
The bid was made with farmers’ support and a grant of $1m over three years, rather than the usual two, was secured.
The funding will be matched in cash or in kind by Ducks Unlimited, Dairy NZ, the Department of Conservation and the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
All up, $2.8m, including $500,000 from farmers around the lake, will be spent.
About $1.1m of onfarm work will be done.
“The aim is for cockies to put in 50%,” Gunn said.
The onfarm investment was decided after about 45 farms, mostly dairy, had been evaluated using a modified DairyNZ assessment tool to identify and prioritise a range of onfarm projects.
“Our objective has been to improve the quality of the water coming off that land into the wetland, to improve the biodiversity in the wetland and improve the biodiversity within the farm community as well,” Gunn said.
“We have got some large rivers and a large complex of drains.”
He refers to the area as the Little Netherlands.
Water quality going into and coming out of the area is being monitored.
“This is needed so we can show we have made a difference, which will be a hell of a challenge within three years,” he said.
“These things take time.”
The Fresh Start Fresh Water programme has a strong focus on collaborative learning, sharing knowledge from farmers, agencies, industry groups and others.
It aims to develop better understanding of wetlands and farm systems, trial new practices and get farmers and environmentalists working together.
A series of field days has discussed effluent management systems, biodiversity, water and irrigation management and soil quality.
‘Our objective has been to improve the quality of the water coming off that land into the wetland, to improve the biodiversity in the wetland and improve the biodiversity within the farm community as well.’
Armed with the better information about soil management and best practice provided by these field days a farmer could potentially save thousands of dollars through effluent storage and better application of irrigation water.
Farmers could also achieve better production and reduce nutrient leaching.
Jamie Falloon, Wairarapa-Wellington president of Federated Farmers, said the federation was not formally involved in the project but supported it and the concept of partnership with industry, iwi, farmers, the regional council and the Government.
Willingness by those involved in works and planting to open their farms to others was important to the success of the programmes.
“To my mind the benefits are the establishment of a plan and financial contributions to complete protection and environmental enhancement works onfarm,” he said.
“Many times you want to do something but just where to start and what to do is a challenge.”
An important element of the Wairarapa plan was that it did not just cover individual farms but regarded the Wairarapa Moana area as one.
That meant works were targeted to achieve the best environmental returns and a systematic approach was being taken to the work that needed to be done.
