Federated Farmers joins the many council elected representatives and citizens up and down the country urging the government to go back to the drawing board on reform of three waters delivery. “While it’s clear that billions of dollars of investment are needed to get drinking water, stormwater and sewerage infrastructure up to scratch, there are […]
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Thomson Creek Catchment Group making good progress
Over the last two and a half years, Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) have worked on a project to improve the freshwater health in four catchment groups from across the country, with help from the Ministry for Environment’s (MfE) Freshwater Improvement Fund. One of these four catchment groups was the Thomson’s Creek Catchment Community […]
Water Services Bill – Bad news
Bad news… Feds and small water suppliers have been ignored in the submission process, while my community spent time together this week at the community hall which will be affected they are unwittingly captured by the Water Services Bill. The Bill is unworkable at the small-scale. Regardless of the effectiveness of ‘acceptable solutions’ for small […]
Feds’ worst fears realised on drinking water reforms
Federated Farmers is profoundly disappointed to see the Water Services Bill reported back to the Parliament with the definition of a “water supplier” unchanged. “The government has now signed itself up for the enormous task of tracking down every single source of drinking water in the land and making them belong to a register if […]
You’ve heard of pest animals, but what about pest plants?
These introduced species can threaten our region’s natural environment, recreational activities, and primary industries. These plants can be just as harmful to our environment as pest animals. They can outcompete or smothering native plants, dry wetlands and rivers, reduce habitats for native animals, and grow rapidly in waterways. Some of these species are also harmful […]
Horizons Regional Council to lead partnership in constructing wetland for Lake Horowhenua restoration
Horizons Regional Council have reached a major milestone in the path to restoring Lake Horowhenua by securing a land package to construct a nationally significant wetland complex. Governance Group Chair for the project and Horizons’ Chair Rachel Keedwell says the land package was purchased for $6.75m, with $5.6m of that coming from central government’s Jobs […]
Water Services Bill puts ratepayers on the hook for failing private supplies
Media Release by LGNZ Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has today presented to the Health Select Committee on the Water Services Bill, raising serious concerns about a flood of costs for ratepayers if councils are forced to take over failing private water supplies. Presenting to the Committee, LGNZ President Stuart Crosby said that while the […]
Wairarapa farmers leading the way with wetland restoration
A partnership of Wairarapa farmers is a part of a growing wetland restoration movement to build community resilience against flooding, drought, landslides and water pollution. Since 2016 the partnership has been proactively fencing off stock, planting native plants and trapping pest animals to restore wetlands and surrounding areas on Hapua farm. However, restoration work began over a decade ago. The Hapua […]
Imagine if we could store ALL that water
We cannot control the weather, but we can make the most of it and catch it while we can. The recent holiday deluge of rain in the south saw two very different reactions. There was despair from the holiday makers trying to take a break from the year we’d had, right through to joy and […]
Dairy industry big guns join forces to tackle nitrogen leaching
Fonterra and Nestlé are teaming up with DairyNZ to expand a promising plantain trial to help improve waterways and reduce on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Incorporating certain varieties of plantain into a cow’s diet has been shown to reduce the nitrogen concentration in their urine, which can leach through soil into groundwater. To test the […]