80 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » MKJ Farms Ltd The Waituna lagoon and work completed on the tributaries to the lagoon. Maarten a voice for the farming community Tracey Edwardes Dismantling tractors from old to modern and in between NEW USED TRACTOR PARTS & ACCESSORIES 835 Rockdale Rd, Invercargill | 032169269 | tisburymachinery@xtra.co.nz Excavation & Cartage P. 027 220 4204 e. d.shearing@xtra.co.nz SOUTH SCAN LIMITED Proudly Supporting MKJ Farms Ltd Jeremy Byars 027 220 5161 jeremybyars2@gmail.com Mel Peirce 027 320 5855 Maarten Van Rossum is a voice for the farming community, potentially driving positive changes for the 20000ha Waituna catchment in Southland. In between running MKJ Farms in Waituna with his family, he has stepped on as an independent trustee, to be the community representative on the Whakakamana te Waituna Charitable Trust. Owning land around the Waituna Lagoon, the Trust was set up in 2018 by Environment Southland, Iwi and DOC to engage more with the community. “Our local councillor Jon Pemberton encouraged us to set up the Waituna Catchment Group with a committee of six, Ken Crack, Katrina Robertson, Carl McCrostie, Trevor Tatham, Grant Black and myself as Chair,” he says. “We are currently dealing with an opening consent for the lagoon to open up through the gravel bar to the sea. That was previously held by community group The Waituna Control Association to reduce lake levels for farm drainage. With new central government legislation, wetlands have been redefined to not allow wetlands to be drained for land drainage proposes. The Waituna Control Association was pressured to relinquish the previous consent, which in turn lost the continuous rights that were attached to the consent. Fast forward two and half years with two emergency openings and the third one needing to be done in the near future, we are still fighting for a practical solution. The Trust’s land purchase has the potential to allow the lagoon to rise to a higher water level before it gets opened, as suggested by a team of scientists, but not all the land has been purchased that would be affected. “If the water level for opening the lagoon is raised, land owners will be flooded out and public access to the viewing platform for the internationally significant Ramsar site via the Waghorn’s Road bridge may be cut off for approximately 100 days a year, due to flooding. A pre-hearing was held in March to have a discussion and look at common ground, the main issue is the water level for triggering the lagoon to be opened. The hearing is going to be held on July 29-31, where everyone will put their case forward for the commissioners to make the decision. “The lagoon needs to open up to the sea generally once a year for drainage purposes, fish passage, and its health, to stop potential algae blooms. The maximum height was 2.2 metres, but the new application is for 2.5m. That extra 300mm has implications, impeding the land further up. Everyone wants an opening consent. The community needs it slightly lower, a manageable 2.2-2.3m would still work. Environment Southland, Te Runanga O Awarua and DOC are the joint submitters to the consent. “We have a positive relationship with Environment Minister Penny Simmons, who is keeping a close eye on the lagoon, and would like to see everyone moving forward. The new government seems to be building relationships, and working on free trade agreements while maintaining the environment - all positive for farming. “The Trust wants to take their purchased land out of farming, returning it to a natural state with plantings near the lagoon, a biodiversity credit scheme partially funding it. “It’s trying to find balance between environmental aspirations, recreational users, and farming activities. In 2011 environmental monitoring found that health of the lagoon was under stress due to many years of land development in the catchment, and changes in the water lagoon levels. It was identified that the catchment and the lagoon required on-going active management to improved their ecological condition. Since then farmers have willingly and quickly made changes to their management practices and improved infrastructure, often at considerable personal expense, for example, effluent disposal, fencing off waterways, ensuring lanes were away from creeks, and improving winter grazing practices by managing crops and buffer strips. There has been some community fatigue with agencies over the years, however. The management of lagoon opening events is important as it influences ecosystem health and farm management practices. “This is not a new issue, land use intensification began back in the 1950s when the main tributaries to the Waituna Lagoon were straightened, and the Government schemes cleared and developed land and encouraged other people to do so too. Soil clay, silt and nutrients ended up in the lagoon, so we re-battered creeks, and placed rock in bends to reduce erosion. Since 2011 a lot of positive things have happened in partnership with Environmental Southland, Living Water, DOC and land owners, matching dollar for dollar.” On the farm front, the very wet start to the season was challenging, with increased feed costs of 20 percent. “We are paring back our 2000 cows to 1770 and reducing three farms to two. My sister and brother-in-law are keen to take on the third farm. We aim to do the basics well - good people in the business enables those results.”
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