Federated Farmers praises farmers on Lake Brunner

Federated Farmers praises farmers on Lake Brunner improvement

Federated Farmers is praising the efforts of local farmers in improving the water quality of the West Coasts largest river, Lake Brunner.

Years of hard work by the Lake Brunner farming community has resulted in the water quality target, set out by the government, being reached five years ahead of schedule.

“The early achievement of the target is a great example of how we can reverse deteriorating water quality when farmers work together to reach a shared objective,” says Federated Farmers West Coast President Katie Milne.

The farming community came together after earlier monitoring of the lake showed nutrients were increasing and the resulting algal growth was steadily reducing water clarity.

“We knew that if we got to work when water quality was trending down we could reverse the trends quickly. The lake fluctuates greatly so consistent trends are hard to confirm. The clarity measure can change by a measure of four within a two month period due to heavy rain.”

Ms Milne says farmers have adopted a number of good management practices on farm, as well as making significant upgrades to their effluent systems, sometimes at a huge personal cost.

“The local farmers have also been busy fencing off farm waterways, erecting bridges, culverts and riparian planting,” she says.

Lake Brunner is an important ecological site, providing habitat to a number of threatened species that hold cultural and recreational importance to the community.

“It was great to see the wider community get in behind the work we’ve been doing. We’ve had local sea scouts, DOC volunteers, regional council staff and the local Lake Brunner School all helping out with riparian planting,” she says.

The next steps will be a renewed fund to support community initiatives for improving water quality and a discussion paper in the New Year on how New Zealand can better manage freshwater within limits.

ENDS

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