Regional councils are being called on to stop implementing freshwater plans in light of a report claiming the standards are unachievable and with government changes to the legislation pending.
The call comes from Beef + Lamb New Zealand, citing a report it commissioned which said current national bottom line (NBL) standards for fine sediment and E coli could not be achieved and would be financially disastrous for sheep and beef farmers.
However, University of Otago Freshwater Research Fellow Marnie Prickett was critical of the report, saying water quality standards should be set by groups of scientists, not an individual.
She said industry bodies should be supporting farmers instead of producing material that frightens them.
“Talking about ‘decimation’ on the back of a single person’s report is cynical and harmful, and it’s not how good decisions are made,” she said.
Asked whether the NBLs were unachievable, Prickett said such decisions and questions should be worked on by the scientific community.
“That’s how we make sound decisions and get meaningful answers.”
In response, BLNZ’s environmental policy manager, Paul le Miere, said the report by Torlesse Environmental had input from scientists and research from entities such as Our Land and Water.
He said several regional councils are using current minimum sediment and E coli water quality standards in draft freshwater plans, which will have significant implications.
Wellington and Northland are proposing to retire grazing on Class 7 and 8 land and slopes greater than 25 degrees, and Otago and Bay of Plenty plans will exclude sheep and cattle from waterways and require 10m setbacks.
“The impact is hundreds of millions of dollars in each region,” Le Miere said.
“It’s a lot of wasted time and effort notifying these plans when the government is going to review them in the next year to 18 months.”
The report commissioned by BLNZ calculated that meeting current freshwater NBLs would cost the NZ economy $3.9 billion a year in lower exports plus the impact of closed business and rural communities.
The additional cost of planting and fencing to meet these standards was estimated at $1.4bn.
Prickett said the report reflects siloed thinking.
“BLNZ should widen their research base to develop a strategy that supports sheep and beef farmers find their way forward in the restoration of catchments while changes in the climate put increasing pressure on farm systems, other sectors vie for allocation in a limited world, and markets change,” she said.
The report said that even if agriculture were removed and catchments returned to their natural state, 38% of the country’s rivers would still not meet national sediment standards.
It also noted challenges meeting year-round E coli concentrations, but Prickett said that it is not a reason not to regulate or manage the bacteria.
The study estimated 44% of sheep and beef farmland would have to be retired if NBLs for fine sediment were enforced, along with other extensive mitigations,
“Even if these measures were taken, around 50% of the catchments currently below the NBLs would remain below them,” the report said.
It quoted published literature that around 20% of waterways still in their natural state, for example National Parks, do not currently meet suspended fine sediment NBLs.
Prickett noted that in 2017 BLNZ along with other farming groups pledged to make NZ rivers swimmable, and said they appear to be now backing away from that commitment.
Le Miere said that commitment still stands but current bottom lines make it difficult to achieve while staying economically viable.
