Raetihi farmers frustrated but coping

7 October 2013

Raetihi farmers frustrated but coping

Farmers reliant upon Raetihi’s water supply are as frustrated as the urban residents are but remain hopeful alternative water supplies maybe secured by the end of this week.

“With livestock understandingly refusing to drink from contaminated troughs, it has been a difficult week for the affected farms and especially those who draw water from Raetihi’s water supply,” says Lyn Neeson, Federated Farmers Ruapehu provincial president.

“What we need now is some heavy rain and it looks like some is on the cards for mid-week.

“Farmers are coping quite well by moving stock to alternative sources either on or off-farm. This includes on-farm water supplies like dams through to sending stock off-farm.

“I know farmers are also installing tanks and pumps and we thank Ruapehu District Council for filling tanks for farm use if they can access them. But this comes at a cost which sheep and beef farmers didn’t need.

“As farmers are just getting through calving and with lambing and docking underway, the timing isn’t ideal but at least it isn’t summer. If it had happened in several months time we would have been looking at a full-scale farming emergency.

“The one dairy farm in the catchment has been thankfully unaffected.

“Federated Farmers will be at the meeting tomorrow afternoon in Raetihi called by Ruapheu District Council. Both Ruapehu and Horizons Regional Council have been putting in hard graft to fix things and that is appreciated by us.

“As for how it happened, there will be questions that need to be answered but the first focus is rightly on getting water supplies running again.

“As far as I understand things Raetihi may have running water by mid-week.

“Like homeowners, farmers will then have to flush out our lines, tanks and troughs that have been turned off since last week. The water should be fit for stock drinking water. We are also monitoring farms below Raetihi and will be closely check the impact any alternative supply may have on river levels and those farms below the new intake.

“This shows how our livestock need clean drinking water and will reject contaminated water. I guess it explains why farmers have a vested if under appreciated interest in water quality too,” Mrs Neeson concluded.

ENDS

© Scoop Media