Results from the latest round of regional council flyovers shows less than 10 per cent of North Waikato farmers breaching effluent rules.

The latest helicopter flights, the second of seven flyovers this season, covered 139 dairy farms around Huntly last month.

The findings show 9 per cent of properties appeared “significantly non-compliant”. Serious non-compliance is when effluent has entered or is in danger of entering waterways. (Read on …)

Palmerston North City Council has been issued a significant non compliance and abatement notice giving them until 30 November 2011 to comply with their consent to discharge to the Manawatu River.

Horizons has found the city council to be in breach of a condition in their consent which spells out there should be no significant adverse effects on the aquatic life in the river.

Compliance manager Alison Russell said that the issue in question had been brought to light following a benthic biota survey which looks at the river’s insect life up and down stream of the city’s discharge. (Read on …)

Ashburton district farmers face cost blowouts if they delay the installation of water
measuring systems as required by the government’s National Regulations.
From 10 November 2012 water consent holders with takes of more than 20 litres per
second need to have installed a water measuring and reporting system.
John Young, Environment Canterbury’s Team Leader Water Metering, said consent
holders must comply with the Government’s regulations and need to act soon to
avoid the expected rush for equipment and installations. (Read on …)

THE recent chemical leaks from Orica factories are not isolated events but fit a wider pattern of continuing pollution at hundreds of sites, an analysis of the state’s environmental protection licences shows.

With the NSW government set to release its report this week into the hexavalent chromium leak near Stockton in Newcastle, a study by the Total Environment Centre has found dozens more breaches, including many that had gone unreported by companies until they were picked up by government audits.

It says the system of monitoring is ”dysfunctional”. (Read on …)

Farmers have been given a clear message to use water efficiently, with the release this week of the first Environment Canterbury resource consent decision on water use in the upper Waitaki catchment.

Large capital investment may be required by farmers and irrigation companies to meet efficiency targets.

Six resource consents have been granted to the Upper Waitaki Community Irrigation Company for an unusually short period of five years.

The company had asked for 35 years. (Read on …)