New technology helps slash water usage

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council is charged with regulating water usage on farms. Photo / File

Most of you reading this will be well aware of the issues and debate around water quality.

There is however another issue involving water and that is regarding how much can be used.

Regional councils throughout New Zealand have been charged with the responsibility of ensuring all water take is being accounted for and will ultimately be sustainable, within the surface and ground water resources.

Water for domestic use, livestock and firefighting is granted but all other users of water need to have consents to give them the right to it.

In the Upper Waikato region we have all been through a process called Variation 6 that is all about identifying, particularly in the dairy industry, those who are using water and how much.

There's also a given right that each cow shed can draw 15cu m per day which, by industry guidelines, only caters for a herd of 210 cows.

Those who have dairy farms that were drawing water prior to October 15, 2008 have been given a grandparented right providing they make an application.

However, those who were post-2008 and who didn't get adequate consents in place have no provision and could well be without a consented water take.

A process to find solutions for those implicated is under way.

It is considered that once this process has been worked through a good number of catchments in New Zealand could well be determined to be over allocated.

In the Waikato region the application period closed in late 2014, but it will be sometime before the status of the catchment is understood.

This is considered to be a critical issue and many of you will be aware that "ECan" the Canterbury Regional Council was dismissed and replaced by commissioners a number of years ago.

This was essentially because of mismanagement of water in the region.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council is just getting started on their process and those in the rural areas have been aware of this situation for a while.

This water availability constraint is being seen as potential negative for growth and future development within the regions.

However, last month I attended a field day on a dairy conversion to the south of Rotorua. The farm had a herd of 530 cows and was permitted no more than 15cu m of water for milk cooling and shed washing. The day was titled "smart water use" and was all about a proactive use of technology to create significant water use efficiencies.

They had got their daily use of water down to 24 litres per cow compared to an industry standard of 70 litres.

They showed that this is achievable with a new shed design, collecting roof water, recycling of wastewater, snap chilling of milk and computerisation.

As a result, all farm staff were informed and aware of the amount of water being used.

The shed will shut down if it starts to draw more water than the 15cu m and would therefore be in breach of the permitted activity rule.

This is a fine example of technology being developed for the farming industry to minimise water use and the environmental footprint that goes with it.

There is an expectation for all dairy farmers to have water meters fitted to their cow sheds so they can monitor the volume of water used on a daily basis.

Because water usage, and the wastewater created, is a significant issue in Rotorua, I wonder if citizens would consider the use of technology and water meters to better understand their usage and the environmental footprint that goes with it.

What are your thoughts?