While we need to manage the impacts of farming activities on freshwater quality, including sediment and E. coli, the way this is currently being done has significant issues and will have massive implications for our sector.
Many regional councils around New Zealand are notifying water plans to implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM).
The Government has pushed out the date that regional councils can notify a freshwater plan and said it will amend the NPS-FM.
However, the NPS-FM is still in place and many regional councils are continuing with their planning processes and we’re seeing some really worrying rules come out with significant implications for farmers.
What B+LNZ is doing
We commissioned an independent report by environmental consultants Torlesse Environmental Ltd. This report highlights significant issues with the suspended fine sediment and E.coli targets.
We’re using this report to call on the Government to urgently amend the national bottom lines or redouble efforts to pause the planning process – we need to stop those bottom lines from being implemented while we work on a better approach to achieving good freshwater outcomes.
We’re also working to explain this issue to the public and mainstream media. It’s important they understand that farmers have been proactively managing impacts and risks to freshwater health but that the current requirements are far too stringent and if unchanged will decimate farming and rural communities.
The report’s findings
- There were significant issues in the way the suspended fine sediment and E. coli attribute frameworks were determined and set up, and in their achievability.
- The sediment national bottom lines are too stringent – research released publicly indicates around 20 percent of waterways coming out of catchments in their natural state (for example national parks) do not currently meet the suspended fine sediment bottom lines and even if agriculture is stopped and all catchments returned to their natural state throughout the country, up to 38 percent of rivers would still not meet the targets.
- An estimated 44 percent of all sheep and beef farmland would likely need to be retired, along with other extensive mitigations, if the national bottom lines for fine sediment were enforced. Even if this drastic measure was taken more than 50 percent of catchments that were below the national bottom line would still remain below the national bottom line.
What we’re calling for
We want regional councils to stop these processes while the issues are addressed. We’re recommending the suspended fine sediment attribute and 95th percentile E. coli states are removed as an interim measure, while urgent work is undertaken on the replacement of the NPS-FM.
The importance of a good evidence base
B+LNZ uses research and evidence to underpin our advocacy, along with farmer input. We also rely on the B+LNZ Sheep and Beef Farm Survey – this research showed the importance of the survey farms and GIS mapping of them.