Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
farm practice through this non-regulatory approach can be lost when changes in the
economic climate encourage land use intensification. There are also issues with
regulation of land use and water quality relating to perceived impingement on
landowners' property rights. Addressing these issues can be politically contentious,
leading to a reluctance to tackle them.
One catchment where diffuse discharges are being tackled through regulation is the
Lake Taupo catchment in New Zealand's North Island. Lake Taupo is an example of a
water body experiencing a gradual decline in water quality linked to land use. There has
been a gradual decrease in Lake Taupo's water clarity due to increasing nitrogen levels
from land use in the catchment, causing greater phytoplankton production. The best
scientific evidence available suggests summer water clarity will decrease from an average
of some 14 metres to nine metres over the next 20 years unless nitrogen inputs are held at
current levels. However, some decline below current levels is inevitable as there is a lag
time for nutrients to enter the lake. Some of the current decline is attributed to increased
nitrogen inputs from farming in the last 50 years (Ministry for the Environment 2005b).
In July 2004, the central government agreed to fund NZ$36.7 million towards a total
package of NZ$81.5 million to improve water quality in Lake Taupo. The balance is
funded by local government agencies. This funding package aims to encourage pastoral
farmers to diversify to low nitrogen land uses through a mix of financial incentives and
advisory services over the next 15 years and is intended to reduce nitrogen levels in the
lake by 20% (Ministry for the Environment 2005b). This reduction will be achieved by
developing regulatory land use controls to secure the benefits gained of farmers changing
to less nitrogen intensive land uses. Alongside this a fund will be used to purchase
nitrogen from farmers in the Lake Taupo catchment. It will operate through a rule in a
regional plan that would place a cap on nitrogen emissions, so that total emissions remain
at current levels.
Water allocation
There is increasing pressure in some regions for water to be available to irrigate
agricultural land. The area of irrigated land in New Zealand has approximately doubled
every ten years since the 1960s and only 20% of the total area of potentially irrigable land
is currently irrigated. Agriculture relies on freshwater and irrigated land consumes a
large proportion of all abstracted water, accounting for nearly 80% of current allocation
(Ministry for the Environment 2004b).
Irrigated agriculture and horticulture add an extra $1 billion annually above the best
dry-land (non-irrigated) farming options for the same land (Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet 2003). Most water allocated for irrigation is allocated in Canterbury, a
region covering approximately 17% of New Zealand's land area. Approximately 58% of
the water allocated in New Zealand is from the Canterbury region and 70% of New
Zealand's total irrigated land area is in this region. Between 1985 and 2002 the irrigated
area in Canterbury is estimated to have increased from 150,000 to 440,000 hectares
(Ministry for the Environment 2005b).
The RMA provides for councils to make regional policy statements and regional
plans to provide a framework for allocation decisions. 10 Regional plans may specify such
10.
Regional plans are not compulsory but nearly all regional councils either have an operative plan
or are in the process of developing one.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search