There's now solid evidence that Horizons Regional Council's Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI) is reducing hill country erosion, environment manager Craig Mitchell says.
The initiative costs ratepayers $35 a year and a new report has found it keeps soil on the hills and out of the waterways.
Mr Mitchell was full of enthusiasm as he presented councillors with the result of an independent study by AgResearch at yesterday's meeting of the council's environment committee.
"I'm feeling incredibly excited. This is the first occasion when we can see what these programmes will actually mean in cold, hard improvements out in the field," Mr Mitchell said.
"It's telling us we're doing the right thing and getting some very real outcomes."
The SLUI began in 2005, as a reaction to the horrific erosion caused by the 2004 storm. It aims to provide plans for farms on erosion-prone land - plans that will reduce erosion while maintaining farm profitability. Costs are shared between farmers and the council.
So far 449 farms with 329,117ha have been mapped - 19 per cent more area than was planned at this stage. Of those hectares, 130,130 are highly erodible land.
The success of the initiative depends on the plans being implemented - with options like the planting of spaced poplar poles, forestry planting or letting areas go back into bush.
Implementation has happened on 10,801ha so far and has already reduced erosion by 9.7 per cent. Even if nothing else is done the effect of those trees maturing will reduce it by a further 9 per cent, doubling the effect.
"That equates to 440,000 tonnes of sediment staying on the hills. That's the nub of what we are trying to achieve in SLUI. We couldn't miss the opportunity to celebrate that success," Mr Mitchell said.