By late December, the witness said he had still not received an update from NRC regarding his concerns and therefore decided to contact the Northland Age.
"I'm concerned because this is just one example of a longstanding compliance and enforcement issue," he said.
"We want our families to be able to swim without getting ear and eye infections."
Water activist Millan Ruka has been involved with the protection of waterways for many years and is the founder of Environment River Patrol Aotearoa, which he started 12 years ago.
He is also a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
He said farmers getting too close to waterways was a problem.
"There's a definite lack of monitoring and enforcement," Ruka said.
"There's nothing organised in terms of Kaitiakitanga (protection/guardianship) and I advocate it's time for Māori to be involved in monitoring and enforcement.
"Parking wardens exist, but on the rivers of the Northland Regional Council, there isn't one person keeping watch."
NRC regulatory services group manager Colin Dall said the council had investigated the Awanui case, but had found no action was required.
"A representative of the property owner was contacted and advised the work required a separation distance of at least five metres from the edge of the river to be undertaken as a permitted activity," Dall said.
"Any further land preparation either needed to comply with this requirement or a resource consent needed to be obtained for the work.
"In this case, a discharge of sediment to the river hadn't occurred and no further action was required."
Dall added the council had plans to run an education campaign to ensure the rules were well understood.
"The council plans to undertake general communications on the requirements of the Proposed Regional Plan for Northland in regard to land preparation prior to the next cultivation season," he said.
Lobby and advocacy group Federated Farmers is adamant working too close to waterways is not a common problem in Northland.
"Farmers are generally aware of their responsibilities and have taken great strides over the last decade to put in place environmental improvements," the statement said.
"The majority of farmers are taking initiative ahead of time to reduce their impact on the environment through riparian planting, fencing, erosion controls, fertiliser and land-use practices."
Deeper than setback distance
Despite NRC's finding, the witness believed the use of herbicide and insecticide too near waterways was still a concern.
Although NRC found sediment had not entered the waterway in this case, the witness said should a significant rain event occur, products used to prepare the soil could potentially contaminate the river.
The man said he felt that was problematic and people should be able to swim in their local rivers without risk.
"The water is either clean, or it isn't and someone's going to pay for the damage being done now," the witness said.
"Sadly, it seems like that's going to be our kids.
"I want to see courage and leadership from our Government."
Ruka agreed, and recalled feeling the urgency of the problem years ago when working on a separate report in Awanui.
He said he saw children jumping into the river after gathering water quality data upstream, knowing the water was unsafe to swim in.
When asked about the current rules in effect, Ruka said he believed they were too relaxed.
"Certainly on a river, five metres is way too close, I think it should be 10 or even 15," Ruka said.
"For floodplains, it should be much more, to enable sediment retention."
Ruka pointed to Te Mana o tu Wai, a central concept within the National Policy for Freshwater Management, which regional councils must give effect to through their plans.
He said Te Mana o tu Wai would ensure the health and wellbeing of the water was protected and human health needs were provided for before enabling other uses of water.
• Anyone unsure of the rules regarding farming setbacks near waterways can ring 0800 002 004.
