Northland's dairy farmers get some of the closest scrutiny in the country and Northland Regional Council says it is increasing enforcement action against those who breach their environmental obligations, especially "repeat" offenders.
A report by Forest & Bird this week said regional councils across New Zealand were not properly enforcing dairy effluent management rules.
It said a total of 5000 dairy farms were not inspected for dairy effluent compliance in 2016 and 2017.
Forest & Bird said 919, or 40 per cent, of the country's reported cases of serious non-compliance cases in recent years were in Northland.
NRC group manager - regulatory services Colin Dall said the council takes its obligations to monitor dairy farm compliance extremely seriously and – while already having one of the most stringent monitoring regimes in New Zealand – has already taken several steps to further strengthen its work in this regard, largely to address the sorts of concerns raised by Forest & Bird.