KEY POINTS:
Farming is seen as a bigger culprit than sewage and stormwater runoff in causing water pollution, a Lincoln University survey has found.
The university has been running two-yearly surveys on the public perception of the state of the environment.
For the first time, more people blamed farming than sewage and stormwater problems for the bad state of waterways.
The university's professor of environmental management, Ken Hughey, yesterday released the new survey data at a "Conflict in Paradise" conference in Auckland.
Subtitled "the transformation of rural New Zealand", the conference was organised by the Environmental Defence Society and drew representatives from central and local government, environment groups, and rural, legal and business groups.
Professor Hughey said this year's survey results showed New Zealanders considered the most important environmental issues facing the country were water-related.
Nearly half the respondents cited farming as one of the main causes of water degradation, followed by sewage and stormwater runoff - the first time those factors had been relegated to second place.
In the previous survey, done in 2004, only about one-quarter of respondents had blamed farming for poor water quality.
Professor Hughey said when those surveyed were asked what they thought the Government should concentrate on, they placed a high-quality environment fourth after health, education and a strong economy.
But when they were asked what personally mattered to them, the respondents put quality of life at the top of the list followed by health and education.
A high-quality environment still came fourth but this time ahead of economic growth.
Professor Hughey said that overall, people regarded the state of the environment as "pretty good".
The greatest concern was the state of rivers and lakes, which nearly a quarter of respondents thought were in a bad or very bad state.
About 40 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed that small lowland streams in their region had a high water quality.
Professor Hughey noted that 38 per cent of Kiwis had a freshwater fishing licence, used to have one, or wanted to get one.
The postal survey was sent to 2000 people aged over 18 years and drew a 40 per cent response rate, which was considered high.
Federated Farmers environment spokesman Bruce McNab said many farmers used their streams for household water supplies, so they would not knowingly pollute them.
He said cows were viewed as the enemy of the environment, but noted the increased pressure for food production.
The notion that farmers did not care for the environment was not true, he said.
A minority of farmers might not recognise they had to be good citizens, and that should be dealt with through individual prosecutions, rather than regulatory handbrakes on well-performing practitioners.
Mr McNab said there was common ground between farmers and environmental interest groups and communication between them needed honesty and mutual respect to achieve fair and reasonable outcomes.
Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu environmental adviser Craig Pauling said the productivity capability of fresh water often went ignored and should be valued.
"My uncles and relations still supplement their diet with natural food from the river."
Mr Pauling said there had been cases where Maori were made scapegoats in disputes over water rights. Councils had played Maori off against farmers instead of encouraging discussions.
"A lot of Maori are still farmers so they understand the issues."
