Canterbury Regional Council's dairy report for the past season has revealed a big jump in the number of dairy farms there.
The council's regulation director, Kim Drummond, says it's now monitoring more than 850 dairying operations - 23% more than than the previous season.
Mr Drummond says compliance with resource consents is running at about 80 to 90%.
One positive trend, he says, has been a reduction in the rate of nitrogen application to pasture, which shows farmers are managing effluent spreading more effectively, reducing the risk of it leaching into ground water.
