18 Mar 2016

Canterbury farmers breach water regulations

1:22 pm on 18 March 2016

Nearly one in five Canterbury farmers have failed to comply with their consents to take river and ground water.

Drought conditions in mid-Canterbury, January 2015

Canterbury was in drought early last year as well. Photo: Jeremy Talbot

ECan regional council figures showed significant non-compliance for the year to the end of June.

Large parts of the region had been in drought for more than a year and rivers and ground water were already running low.

Breaches were for taking more water than a consent allows, faulty water meters and failing to report the amount of water taken.

Farmers with consents to discharge dairy cow effluent were found to be significantly non-compliant in 9 percent of cases.

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