Sh*t hits fan

Front page of the Southland Times - Waituna - under immediate threat!


Iconic wetlands in jeopardy

"Environment Southland might try to halt further dairy farm development in the Waituna catchment in a bid to prevent the area's internationally significant lagoon from suffering irreversible damage."

That's right. We might. Must even.

Spokesperson for the dairy farmers, Vaughan Templeton, unsurprisingly, disagrees.

"Federated Farmers Southland dairy chairman Vaughan Templeton said not allowing any more dairy development would be a "blunt instrument" approach to the problem.
"We would rather see people who are (farming) there do so under certain conditions that don't have runoff. We have to put things in place to try to minimise it."

Is that goiung to be sufficient Vaughan?
I doubt it.
Commenters on the ST site so far don't have much faith in Mr Templetons way either:

Amanda   #2   10:07 am Feb 14 2011

I really don't see Dairy farmers regulating their practice look how much damage poor management has done to New Zealand's waterways already.
http://www.livingrivers.org.nz/Site/Living_Rivers/the_problem.aspx
I want to be able to swim in a river in 20 years time without swimming in cow sh**

Anne   #1   09:11 am Feb 14 2011

If that happens, it will be irreversible - so do something now! New Zealand has lost too many of its wetlands. We can put a diary farm anywhere - we can't move this internationally significant lagoon.

This issue has a long way to go and will get dirtier as it goes, I predict.
Something must be done and more of the same isn't going to save the lagoon.