Farmers in the Balfour area will be invited to help Environment Southland study the impact of nutrient leaching on nitrate levels in local groundwater.
Environment Southland has been monitoring groundwater in the Balfour area since 2001 in response to community concerns about whether land use changes and an increase in dairy farming would have an impact on domestic water supplies.
In the 1970s and 80s the main farming use in the area was intensive arable cropping, with widespread cultivation and fertiliser use, Groundwater Scientist Karen Wilson said. In the late 1990s the land use changed to be predominantly dairy farming or dairy support units.
Last year’s monitoring showed a “hotspot” of over 10 square km with nitrate levels in the groundwater that exceeded the drinking water standard.
A report by consultants SKM has concluded that this is mostly the result of the historic arable farming in the area, while the impact of the change to dairying is still uncertain. Miss Wilson said this was because of the time it took for activities on the surface to have an effect on the underground aquifers.
Environment Southland is calling a public meeting at Balfour to discuss the results of its monitoring with the local community. This follows discussion at yesterday’s Environmental Management Committee.
Farmers in the area will also be asked to give Environment Southland copies of their nutrient budgets, so that the Council’s scientists can get a better understanding of how fertiliser use relates to the state of the groundwater. Land sustainability staff will offer to work with farmers that don’t already have nutrient budgets, to help develop them for each property.

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