Community at war over water

A war over water is brewing in Rerewhakaaitu with tensions rising between a man who wants to irrigate his land and other farmers in the area.

The other farmers fear water levels in Lake Rerewhakaaitu will drop and wells on which they rely for their water supply will dry up if Rob Foster is allowed to irrigate his farm.

Mr Foster, of Retsof Farms in Gavin Rd, has applied to Environment Bay of Plenty for approval to pump 45 litres of water per second for up to 20 hours daily on his farm.

Other local farmers fear his plans are not environmentally sustainable and want to be consulted before a decision is made.

Dairy farmer Peter Cruse hired a hydrologist to look into the issue after hearing of his neighbour's plans.

He said the subsequent report stated the proposal could alter the water balance of the lake in the area.

Mr Cruse has been gathering signatures for a petition against the application which he plans to present at an Environment Bay of Plenty resource consent hearing at the Rotorua District Council on Friday.

Mr Cruse claimed that when Mr Foster performed a test run with four bores drilled on his farm the water level in his own bores dropped about 7m.

He feared his wells could dry up if irrigation was allowed, making it impossible to operate his dairy farm.

"I believe if you take that much water it will soon run out. We all need water to operate our businesses.

"One cow needs about 35-40 litres of water a day. If he pumps water for 20 hours a day, the wells will never have time to recover."

For the past three years Rerewhakaaitu farmers have had 100 per cent compliance regarding nutrients flowing into Lake Rerewhakaaitu.

Mr Cruse said he was concerned Mr Foster's irrigation plan could see more nutrients washed into the lake because more water would be pumped on to farmland.

"It has to go somewhere," he said. Another neighbour, Peter Stephens said the water in his bores went cloudy after Mr Foster's test runs and took days to recover after dropping a few metres. "I think there will just be a chain reaction once one bore starts to dry up. We don't know what is going on under the ground."

Norris Jepsen, who has been farming in the area for more than 50 years, said water supplies had always been "a big problem" in the area.

"No farmer around here can afford to let this farmer irrigate his farm or we will all suffer later down the track. Water isn't in endless supply."

Rerewhakaaitu Ratepayers Association co-chairman Ross Honeyfield said more research was needed.

"There should be no irrigating on farms in this region until they can guarantee there will be no adverse effects on the water supply," he said.

"It can't possibly be economically viable to draw that level of water and for the supply to continue.

"You can't play with nature like this."

Former Federated Farmers Taupo/Rotorua president Chris Sutton said the proposed irrigation could impact on farmers' livelihoods.

"Immediately you start fiddling around with the water supply it impacts on production, meaning less income for the farmer," he said.

Mr Foster declined to comment, other than to say research had been done and he was willing to meet farmers on a one-to-one basis to talk about any concerns.

There are about 120 bores in the Rerewhakaaitu area with water supplied from aquifers.

Environment Bay of Plenty principle compliance officer Brett O'Shaughnessy said the water Mr Foster would be using was rainfall.

"There is no chance at all of the water supply drying up or there being any impact on the lake.

"The scientific evidence by NIWA [National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research] shows the water is from rainfall," he said.

Ground water in the area flowed away from the lake, towards Kaingaroa Forest, not into the lake, he said. If resource consent were granted, the water would be metered.

Farmers will have the chance to voice their concerns at Friday's resource consent hearing.