Water
Released 15 Nov 2010
John Scrimgeour, Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty provincial president
At a time when considerable emphasis appears to surround the use of water to improve productivity and to increase New Zealand's competitive advantage, it seems ironic that the behaviour of some participants seems to do anything but that.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has recently issued invoices for monitoring charges for water bores, used for irrigation purposes. These have soared by up to 500 percent. The invoices included a comment about additional monitoring required, but these unannounced increases seem detrimental to improving efficiency.
Then there is the issue of Trustpower's application for a new resource consent to operate the Matahina dam on the Rangitaiki river. Transpower is requesting the right to operate the river at lower flow levels, presumably so it can increase flow and power generation at peak demand times. Farmers appreciate the need for electricity production, particularly using renewable resources like water. But a short (30 hour) trial last December left some water users unable to source water from the river.
The concept of supporting one business, at the expense of others, hardly seems to be an exercise in efficiency either.
These issues illustrate the importance of considering the effects of one's actions on others.
Federated Farmers is involved with almost 60 other water stakeholders in the work of the Land and Water Forum, which recently published a report on water issues and management.
Most important for farmers, the report signalled greater use of collaborative processes in water policy-making and implementation at national, local and catchment levels.
My colleague, Lachlan McKenzie, Federated Farmers dairy chairperson, said collaboration is a useful process that can result in more enduring and widely accepted outcomes, while saving significant amounts of money and time.
It's a pity a more collaborative approach wasn't taken to the matters raised above.
Water allocation and quality are crucial issues for the future of the New Zealand economy, of course, and the country needs to be confident about the way they are managed.
Gouging ratepayers with outrageous increases in charges and hogging limited water supplies show the importance of finding a better way.
