New Zealanders face tough choices between water quality and the environment, if water quality issues are not addressed.
That's the warning from Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright, who says the booming dairy industry is loading waterways with nitrogen and phosphorus.
In a report released this morning, Dr Wright predicts the situation will get even worse in the near future, with Canterbury and Southland likely to be the hardest hit.
More and more farms are converting from beef to dairy and the more intensive farming is loading waterways with pollutants, Dr Wright says.
"Over recent years, hundreds of thousands of hectares used for sheep and beef farming have been converted to dairy farming.
"Conversion to dairying increases nutrient loads on water."
According to the report, more than 280,000 hectares of land have been converted to dairy across the nation between 1996 and 2008 – at the same time, sheep and beef farming land has dropped by around 500,000ha.
The impact is being clearly felt in Canterbury, with 122,500ha of land converted to dairy over the period, and nitrogen loads have jumped by 27 percent in the region.
Dr Wright argues the nation will soon have to choose between the environment and its biggest industry – farming.
"On land they are valuable nutrients, helping plants to grow," she says.
"But when there is too much of them in water, they become pollutants and can lead to excessive growth of weeds, slime and algae."
Dr Wright is praising recent moves by Government to tackle water quality and says the report was conducted to keep the public – and MPs – informed.
3 News
source: newshub archive
