Some nutrient management tools had limitations and were still being developed and ECAN compliance activities would take that into account, he said in a speech on behalf of head commissioner Dame Margaret Bazley.
“What we’re determined to do is avoid telling farmers how to run their businesses or what you can do on your land.
“ECAN’s regulatory role is to set the limits for nutrients coming off the land and into waterways and farmers will get the best results if they are involved in working out how to do that.”
The regime raised concerns about equity and required discussion about the relative contributions from different farming types and the contributions to water quality from towns,” Bedford said.
Change was uncomfortable and was being driven by the wider community and international demands our agricultural practices were sustainable.
Bedford stressed the need for groups to work together. In the north Canterbury area, ECAN was encouraging the Hurunui Water Project, Ngai Tahu and Amuri Irrigation to look at how they could work together to bring more stored water to their district.
“Rather than compete for the same water and the same nutrients, a more co-operative approach is likely to result in less time in front of hearing commissioners and judges and the faster development of options that deliver water to farmers.”
The need for environmental limits – for river flows and water quality – had always been central to the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. That requirement was now echoed in the Government’s National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.
“It is a NZ-wide change, it’s new for central and local government and it’s new for the farming community.”
The industry needed to think beyond the difficult process of setting limits, to a future where “we collectively can demonstrate that they are being operated within and we make a big deal of telling everyone about that”, he said.
Many farmers were making great strides and there was an awareness in the wider community that farmers were making good progress.
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