by Russel Norman
I’ve just been down Southland and couldn’t help but notice the impact of industrial dairy down there. But perhaps one of the more surprising impacts is that Gore has had to stop people using sprinklers because the bores that feed the town’s water supply are drying up.
If the council could draw the amount of water its consents allowed 5000cum for Coopers Well and 3000cum for Jacobstown there would not be a problem. However, at present it was drawing only 4000cum and 1000cum respectively.
Has it been particularly dry? Is that why the bores are drying up?
Niwa weather data shows that apart from a dry spell in December, this summer’s rainfall is on a par with previous years.
And it may have been alittle warmer but not markedly so. So what’s the cause – according to Gore District Council’s Ross Haslemore:
The problem was caused by a lack of water in the aquifers that fed the bores at Coopers Well and Jacobstown, he said. The drawoff of water by dairy farms upriver of the bores could be impacting on the Mataura River’s flow level, which would in turn affect the bores, he said.
So the people of Gore have to stop watering their gardens with a sprinkler while the giant industrial dairy operators get vast quantities of free water to irrigate their operations. This is what happens when there is little regulation or control of what has been a revolution in land use.
Published in Environment & Resource Management by Russel Norman on Fri, January 30th, 2009
More posts by Russel Norman | more about Russel Norman
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
So who to blame?
The farmers for doing what is perfectly legal, and using water to make money not just for themselves but for NZ as a whole thru the taxes they pay
Or the council for not being strict enough to hold back the area economicaly so the townfolk (many of whose jobs rely on the farmers) can make thier lawns look pretty
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I’d say it is governments that have presided over a massive increase in the number of dairy farms in Southland in the last 10-15 years. From memory it is something like a 600% Increase. It is absolutely insane. I grew up north of Gore at the top of the Waimea Plains. Back at the start of the 1990s there were basically next to no Dairy Farms in the community. One or two were dotted around the place. Then the dairy conversion wave swept through the district. I went back at the end of last year and drove from where I grew up into town. That’s about 15 minutes of what once had been sheep farms. It is all basically dairy. It is the same trend right across that plain. One which the Mataura River runs through.
Yes the dairying boom saw a lot of money being channelled back into the local economy. At what cost to the future viability of farming in the area? Yes it is a hard call for a council to make. That is why central government should be funding research into the long term effects of this massive land use change. Government should also be given a structure within environmental, and social (It has had a affect on the community as well due to changes in working patterns and increases movement of people) concerns can be considered equally along side the economic.
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Shorty – you are completely off the money on this one – locals know full well what the problem is here and it’s not the hissing of summer lawns! MFHM is onto it. It’s screamingly obvious that the issue is cow shit. Let’s call Bill English on this one. It’s his patch after all! He’ll no doubt lay the bullshit on with a trowel.
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Ask Bill English if it’s the hissing of summer lawns or cow shit causing this. He knows (expect the bull shit to be layed on with a trowel!)
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I am of the view that the best solution to this water problem is going to be a simple charging system; we will need some sort of national entity take control of the water supplies and charge a set rate for each litre of water that is consumed. Naturally, it will be designed so that it would allow our aquifiers and so on the ability to remain stable over time.
What I bet you will find is that these massive dairy farms will become less viable, and they will shut down. What you will also find is people attempting to become more efficient. The problem with the status quo is that there is a limited market system in use; with a market system, you will get the most efficient use for that litre of water, and I doubt it would either cows or pretty lawns.
Also, I would much rather see water go to dairying than pretty lawns.
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Yes I am always extremely angry when I am not allowed to put a sprinkler on to water my vegetable garden when flesh and milk eaters have been pumping all the rivers dry to support their habit. They are allowed more than their fair share of water for their food but not me. I therefore tend to ignore such restrictions. I would support regulations on allocation, maybe similar to the quota management system for fish.
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“Yes I am always extremely angry when I am not allowed to put a sprinkler on to water my vegetable garden when flesh and milk eaters have been pumping all the rivers dry to support their habit.”
That I have no objection to. The objection I have is to people complaining because they cannot water their pretty lawns.
However, another point I need to make – why not let people install their own water tanks as well? I see no harm to society if someone installs their own water tank so they can water their vegetable garden – it results in a win/win situation.
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If the dairy industry would listen to scientists, they would learn about the wonders of environmental sensing. These technoligies allow farmers to calculate much more efficiently which areas need water and how much, so they don’t irrigate wastefully. There is enough water for everyone, if it’s used only where it’s needed.
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tentative test
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The people of Gore have known for some time now that:
- the quality of their bore water is badly compromised by animal effluent
- farmers were consciously pushing too close to the source of the town’s water supply
dairy expansion would result in too much water being drawn for their operations and the townspeople would lose out
Letter to the editor have tracked all of these developments over the past 5 years
The Curio Bay/Hector’s Dolphin issue now surfacing in the newspapers will follow the same trajectory and result in similar losses to the environment unless there is action. Good on the Greens for making statements on these two issues.
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John-ston,
Are people not allowed to install tanks (or is it simply that people choose not to install tanks)?
In fact, your post seems strange … what harm could anyone possibly argue that tanks cause? The only thing I can see might be an issue is people using them for drinking water and not ensuring they are kept free of mosquitos etc.
I have mixed feelings about selling water. I live in Melbourne where there is currently a drought. People have been voluntarily saving water, yet now it turns out one of the major reasons for water price increases is that the water distributors cannot make as much profit when less water is used, so they increase the price.
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samiuela Says:
January 31st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
> Are people not allowed to install tanks (or is it simply that people choose not to install tanks)?
> In fact, your post seems strange … what harm could anyone possibly argue that tanks cause? The only thing I can see might be an issue is people using them for drinking water and not ensuring they are kept free of mosquitos etc.
I don’t know about New Zealand, but they were banned in many built-up areas of Australia for a long time because of fear of mosquitoes.
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# samiuela Says:
January 31st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
> I have mixed feelings about selling water. I live in Melbourne where there is currently a drought. People have been voluntarily saving water, yet now it turns out one of the major reasons for water price increases is that the water distributors cannot make as much profit when less water is used, so they increase the price.
I think it should be charged for to encourage, but still supplied by a public-sector agency which does not have a profit motive, because as a business it would be a monopoly which could be easily abused.
and Samiuela, I hope you’re managing to keep nice and cool – my cuzzie in Melbourne says it’s been a bit hot lately
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Perhaps then I’m not the only person in New Zealand that welcomes the reduced dairy payouts, we might see some return to sanity. Another dollar or so off the milk returns should see many of these “farmers” bankrupt. (I put farmers in quotation marks, because what we’re seeing in New Zealand is what has happened in so many other countries, farming is now an “agribusiness”, and is mostly controlled, as is everything else, by accountants) I don’t actually welcome bankruptcies, of course, but that is the nature of the boom/bust mentality that drives so much of New Zealand commerce and has done over the last 150 years.
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Kahikatea,
Its been very hot here. Last week 3 days in a row were over 43 (peaking at 45.1 on Friday), the other days have been in the 30s. New Zealand has a much nicer climate.
(And to answer your question: no, I haven’t been keeping nice and cool).
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