Latest Dairy Audit Shows Farmers Working Toward Clean Waterways

The latest report on dairy shed effluent and stream crossings reflects the shift in awareness within the Marlborough dairy industry of the importance of higher environmental standards, says Marlborough District councillor Peter Jerram.

Farms are reviewed annually to check compliance with the Marlborough Sounds Plan Rules or resource consent conditions in the Wairau/Awatere Management Plan are being met. Since 2009/10 the District Council has followed nationally recognised guidelines to assess dairy effluent and stream crossings on all dairy farms in the district. In 2011, Fonterra announced its suppliers would have two years to ensure stock are kept out of waterways, in line with the national Dairying and Clean Streams Accord.

To help farmers reach the desired standards, the District Council is not charging resource consent fees for new culverts or bridges. However that period of grace will end in December next year.

Councillor Jerram, who chairs Council’s Environment Committee, says there’s no doubt the attitudes toward cleaning up our waterways have changed and a new spirit of cooperation exists.

“Representatives from Fonterra, Dairy NZ, the Landcare Trust, Federated Farmers’ Dairy Section and the Council all understand what needs to be done and they’re working collaboratively and quite successfully to deal with the issues. There are one or two individual farmers who have yet to take the required action but they will be well aware that all eyes are upon them,” said Councillor Jerram.

In 2011/12, the Council inspected 60 dairy farms across Marlborough, most of them in the area extending from Rai Valley, through the Marlborough Sounds, to Tua Marina. The audit shows that 70% of Marlborough diary effluent systems fully comply and there has been a big improvement in the number of farms which were showing significant non-compliance a year ago.

In the last year, improvements have been made to eliminate the remaining high priority stream crossings, reducing the number from 21 to 10 stream crossings still needing urgent attention. The Council has been advised that works have been undertaken to deal with five of these high priority crossings. However this will leave six locations where stock are still regularly crossing a waterway.

Councillor Jerram says Council will soon consider enforcement action in relation to the remaining high priority stream crossings in order to have these eliminated as soon as possible.

Amongst those which still do not comply are a number of Marlborough Sounds dairy effluent systems that do not meet the Plan Rules because of the location.

“There’s a long history of dairying in the Sounds and a dozen or so farms have particular difficulty in meeting the conditions due to that fact that their long-established dairy sheds and effluent ponds have been located within 20 metres of Sounds waterways. While their systems are being largely well managed with no discharges to waterways, the effluent has few adverse effects, but only in relatively dry seasons. In wet seasons, the inadequacy of some of the systems is very evident,” said Councillor Jerram.

He said adequate effluent storage and disposal systems must be part of the improvements on these properties.

Eleven farms across the district also still lack contingency measures to deal with the effect of a heavy rain event causing major floods putting stress on their existing processes for storage and disposing of effluent.
Marlborough Federated Farmers dairy section chair Sharon Parkes says great improvement has been achieved in this district, with significant non-compliances now down to just 3%.

“A number of farmers have put in expensive large ponds and upgraded their effluent systems. Many of them have put in large bridges across rivers and also culverts across smaller streams. A few farmers have struggled to make the required progress to improving their stream crossings and culverts - even though they were well aware that the work was necessary. But many farmers have made a great effort to fence off major rivers and creeks and are now progressing to fence off the smaller streams and creek,” she said.