Blame game does not help

Water quality is an on-going issue.

Recently one of my management team shared with me he was the only dairy farmer at a presentation acknowledging voluntary contributions to the environment.

The gathering, hosted by the Rotorua Lakes Council, was addressed by a Bay of Plenty regional councillor, who laid the blame for water-quality issues directly with the region's dairy farmers.

My colleague, who has worked tirelessly for the welfare of his local lake, was stunned and disappointed.

Improving water quality is not a simple process to work through, but as farmers we consider we have developed a constructive and close working relationship with regional council staff.

Agriculture is, absolutely, a big player in the issue of water quality, but farming is not the only contributor.

I recall in the early 70s an American scientist Dr Fish, who came to look at the issues around Lake Rotorua, describing it as "a great unflushed toilet". The farming community is well aware of the issues, which in many respects have only been identified in the past 10 to 15 years as a result of extensive and ongoing science work.

We see ourselves as part of the problem, but more importantly we see ourselves as part of the solution as well.

There is an important point here that I believe at times is misunderstood or in the rush to see improvements in water quality certainly not appreciated, and that is the period of time our waterways and lakes have been receiving water that has been impacted on by man.

That can be farming, urban development bringing urban waste discharge and even the felling of trees and indigenous forest like on the Mamaku Plateau up to 100 years ago.

I attended a meeting recently for an update on the Plan Change for the Waikato River. The Waikato Regional Council is working through a process to consider guidelines and perhaps rules to try to control the losses of N and P, sediment and E.coli into the river.

One of the features of the process to date was the discussion of timeframes they were expecting to put in place.

Nutrient contamination has been intergenerational, so it is reasonable to take the attitude the solution process will need to be intergenerational too.

There is, though, a good news story around Lake Rotorua, and that is for several years now the lake's water quality index is where the community said it would like it to be.

So the mitigation efforts of the farming community, sewerage reticulation around the lake side communities and the use of alum to lock up the phosphorus in the lake are all contributing to a positive outcome.

There is more that can be done but the challenge we all have in our rush to see better water quality is that we don't destroy the social and economic fabric of the lakeside and wider Rotorua community.

-Alan Wills is Rotorua-Taupo provincial president for Federated Farmers