Plenty of water is allowed for Tākaka farmers, they don’t need more from Te Waikoropupuu Springs aquifer, they need better management.
That’s the basis of the evidence that sustainable agriculture expert Alison Dewes presented to the Environment Court in Nelson on Monday, kicking off the second week of a hearing on a proposed water conservation contract for the wells.
Te Waikoropup Springs are the largest freshwater springs in the Southern Hemisphere. The clear waters are a draw for tourism, but it’s wahi tapu (a sacred place) for mana whenua Ngāti Tama, and a taonga for the community, the court has heard.
The case has gone to court over claims of physical and spiritual deterioration, both at the site and surrounding waterways, due to the primary industry in the area and a lack of concern from the municipality. If the order were enforced by the court, the feathers would receive the highest level of protection.
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The first week of the hearing in May focused on Ngāti Tama’s relationship with Te Waikoropupū Springs, the Tasman District Council’s actions to protect the resources, and Upper Tākaka farmers’ efforts to reduce their impact on waterways by agricultural practices such as reducing stock.
It seems that all parties involved in the case want to protect the feathers, but they disagree on the fine print.
NELSON TASMAN
The clear waters of Te Waikoropupū Springs make it a draw for tourists.
Upper Tākaka irrigators and the Tasman District Council want to know how much water can be recovered from the Arthur Marble Aquifer Recharge Area (AMARA) connected to the wells, to ensure primary industry can remain in the Tākaka Valley as well to exist. such as in the concentration of nitrates in water courses.
Dewes, who presented her evidence in support of the stakeholder Save Our Springs, said based on her calculations and the Overseer’s modeled leached nitrate reports they received from the Upper Takaka farmers, the water they had been authorized to provide was adequate. was to improve their farms and a wider area if they implemented better ways to handle the resource.
“Currently, 540 liters per second of water is allocated to 993 hectares of irrigated land,” Dewes said.
“I also understand that there is an informal waiting list of about 12 applicants requesting an additional 280-312 liters per second.
Dominico Zapata/Stuff
Farmers should do better with the water they’ve already agreed to, sustainable agriculture expert Alison Dewes told the Environmental Court. (File photo.)
“This extra maximum volume extraction could mean adding an additional 4225-4700 million liters per year in total, if they want to utilize their headroom.”
This additional allocation would be used to expand the irrigation area from 993 acres to about 2,045 acres, Dewes said, but instead of asking for more, farmers should look at their systems, she said.
“Increasing the volume of water that can be extracted from the AMARA is not necessary to meet industry or community needs. Agriculture can be profitable, productive and resilient without significant additional inputs of water and imported nutrients.
“Climate change is likely to increase [rainfall] variability and requires adaptations such as using more innovated drought tolerant pastures or summer active species.”
However, the farmers’ expert witness, Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, who has a PhD in soil science, said that court extraction was an essential sustainability strategy for reducing the amount of nitrates that could be leached into waterways from groundwater.
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dr. Jacqueline Rowarth was an expert witness for the Upper Tākaka Irrigators group.
Ensuring there was enough water to encourage grass and other plants to take up nitrates, whether natural or from stock urine, is an important factor in reducing nitrate leaching from farms, Rowarth said.
“With increasing uncertainty in rainfall and increasing dry summer periods, irrigation has become increasingly important.
“Not having irrigation or sufficient water to maintain soil moisture at a sufficient level for plant growth will result in depletion of organic matter and release of nitrogen with implications for increased groundwater loss.
“With increasing drought and increasing heavy rainfall in the Tākaka Valley, it is an important management strategy to grow plants to minimize the nitrogen in the soil solution to reduce the chance of nitrogen reaching the pasture groundwater.”
The hearing continues.