When I was a kid growing up in the South Island we were surrounded by sheep farms with low numbers of sheep to the acre. The rivers were pretty clean, not only did we swim in them but also drank the water.

The sheep farms have been replaced with massive dairy farms, all pumping water out of the rivers for irrigation to support the high stock numbers. Not only are they pumping the water out, all the crap is now flowing back in.

 

 dumb? what $ are you talking about o Neil, I haven't seen any $ coming my way.

 

It's strange that the Avon wasn't mentioned in Canterbury, that would have to be the worst down there.

 

As for the Waikato river 7% of the nutrient load is from urban, I personally wouldn't be swimming directly down stream from that discharge.

 

We humans eat nutrient rich food and excrete nutrient rich material, this doesn't miraculously disappear at the treatment stations as many urban dwellers believe. 

 

Dairy's major problem has been the conversions, especially the pine trees to grass ones.

 

On a per hectare basis nutrient losses from dairy are much lower than market gardening and would be significantly lower than urban.

Great! We can tick the Waikato off as clean because there's plenty of trout in there. 

 

Dairy farming has been allowed virtually everywhere. There should be government policy to encourage more forest planting, instead of more dairy. That would win on two counts - reverse our high carbon emissions - and reduce pollution of waterways.

 

What would you rather see - land covered in pine trees, or green fields with dairy cows. I think the farms look better than the forest; but, the other advantage of forest, outweighs the negatives.

 

Unfortunately, the present government is very much "hands off"; liking the free-market; so don't expect any enlightened policies from them. The only way to achieve anything worthwhile, is to change government.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older and my kids are growing up into adults, that I start to wonder what we're leaving for them and in the future their children.  In an ideal world each generation would leave the world in better shape than they found it for their kids, but I'm pretty sure isn't happening.

I used to think greens getting any kind of power would be a terrible thing, but now I'm starting to wonder if actually it might be a good thing.

 

o Neil I used to swim & fish in the Selwyn as a kid, irrigation is to blame not dairy farming. Without irrigation there would be very little intensive farming in Canterbury. 

 

What drives the viability of irrigation/farming?

 

The need for urban dwellers to have food.

 

Is the footprint of that solely to blame on the farmer? or is it every humans responsibility?

 

Just think the next time you switch a light or the TV, the dams that generate that power are negatively impacting on water quality.

 

What would the water quality of the Waikato be like without dams?

 

I agree with you that tourism is going great for NZ at present, unfortunately some of those tourists don't have a lot of respect for our environment. The latest edition of Reel Life has some examples of this.

 

Letsgetem, this comment shows a lack of knowledge on your part.

 

The benefit of riparian planting is that it provides a buffer strip to catch sediment/soil runoff. This also reduces Phosphate (which is attached to the soil) and e-coli reaching the waterways.

 

Monitored results are showing the benefit of this already.

 

 

 

Irrigation made dairying feasible, to cover the cost of irrigation farmers need to utilise the most profitable lawnmowers.

 

Other alternatives such as sheep, beef and arable farming under irrigation will have a higher footprint. Higher pasture growth supports higher stocking rates.

 

The problem created from this is being taken seriously with significant $ being spent on farm and on research to reduce the impact.

 

PM me if you want some links.

 

  great question, seems to be different rules in this country depending on the size of the client.

Win-win solutions are needed, I get sick of certain groups being quick to put the boot in, less hui and more dui is needed.

 

If your a serious fresh water angler get involved in planting and fencing projects, the goodwill will go along way when it comes to getting access to the water.

 

Farmers have become a lot more responsible in this space, it's a changing world and we are having to adapt quickly to keep up.

 

The majority of farmers genuinely care for the environment, and for many of us spending time on the water is our number 1 off farm activity.