Dairy farmers fear water clamp

Dairy farmers are wary of their water use being over-regulated as a result of a new Government strategy aimed at protecting and improving freshwater resources.

The Government's Sustainable Water Programme of Action, released last week, is taking a wide-ranging look at water management, including studying alternatives to first-in-first-served water allocation mechanisms and how the transfer of consents to use water can be improved.

However, the leader of the Dairy Environment Review Group, Jon Penno said: "There are a whole lot of farmers out there who would be of the opinion that we don't want or need further regulations or rules that just roll out and make farming less viable."

Penno said the Government's programme and a strategy released recently by his group for protecting the environment had many points of agreement. Dairying clearly needed to use water "in a way that the wider community believes is acceptable".

The priorities outlined by Penno's group include:

* Reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphate getting into water from fertilisers, farm operations and cows' urine.

* Preventing faeces getting into waterways.

* Having sufficient water available for dairying.

The group had placed a strong emphasis on solutions that allowed farmers to increase productivity and profits, while managing the environment better.

"We need to get to the point where we can do both and the argument has been one or the other up until now," said Penno.

"We need a significant investment in R&D and a co-ordinated approach to these things to enable both objectives to be [achieved] because one's not more important than the other."

Dairy Farmers of New Zealand chairman Frank Brenmuhl feared any Government rule changes could erode certainty for farmers and other businesses over water use.

Brenmuhl said that regional councils granted rights to use water on a first-in-first-served basis, mostly for 30 years with an expected right of renewal. He was concerned about talk of a selection process being used instead, with shorter allocation terms.

Brenmuhl would prefer to see a system where people got title to water rights in the same way as they owned land.

He also wanted greater clarity about exactly when water rights could be traded.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Jim Anderton has been clear that water itself will remain in public ownership. "We want to ensure that every New Zealander has fair and equal access to water," he said last week.

Fish & Game New Zealand welcomed the commitment to no private ownership of water.