done,as Dr Nick Smith reckons too late,b/s he just wants to do nothing to upset industry

cows have summ in them for years, this from seeing them over the last 60 years from when I use to travel with my grand father who was a vet.
Most farmers I know are and have been fencing off and planting the areas near the rivers edges so improvement is already happening.

I guess that if we (as tax payers) employed people and paid for it, this planting would happen a lot faster as I would imagine that its not a cheap matter to do all this in the next few years.

Problem comes to money dosnt it and it either means increasing taxes of reducing the areas that our tax goes to now.

Personally, I cant wait for the greens to become government as NZ will become a communist state where we get a small grant from the government to live on and the government gets the rest. Retired people will have to be looked after by their children as there will be no pensions. Just look at what both labour and the greens are saying they are going to do and ask yourself where the money is going to come from?

Yes I want clean rivers and oceans but as with all things there is only so many places that our taxes can be spent on at the same time.

Have to agree with the greens on this one, disgusting what has happened to our rivers. If the processes/people damaging our rivers cant afford to pay to prevent damage then they shouldn't be allowed do what ever it is that is causing damage.

o Neill wrote: Money still goes to Key's cycle trails pet project. Tree planting would be a cheaper option per kilometre of river bank and who wants to cycle beside some of these polluted waterways? Putting money into a declining dairy industry while tourism grows is just dumb! .

The tarawera eh, the Black Drain.....poisoned by the years of the big paper mill pumping its crap, heavy metals etc into the river.

If the Selwyn has no water in it that must be worse than the Avon surely?
Tourism here needs a clean environment. Simple really. Tourism creates more jobs, (both directly and indirectly) simple really, creates more infrastructure and a reliable consistent income compared to dairy as over supply creates low prices and a polluted environment, simple really.

I'll admit that in the past I've been guilty of considering the greens to be a bunch of weirdy beardies and ageing hippies, with loony policies.  But I have to wonder who are the bigger fools, people who want to preserve our beautiful country or those who would happily destroy it for a quick profit.  I wonder how much good the dairy boom has really done for NZ.  Environmental problems that may take decades to sort out, if they ever are, for short term profit for a few people, who won't ever pay to sort out the mess they leave.

letsgetem wrote: I don't think planting beside river banks, has or will make any significant improvement to water quality.

So is this not where the Selwyn's water has gone?

Potty wrote: o Neill wrote: So is this not where the Selwyn's water has gone?   Irrigation made dairying feasible, to cover the cost of irrigation farmers need to utilise the most profitable lawnmowers.   Other alternatives such as sheep, beef and arable farming under irrigation will have a higher footprint. Higher pasture growth supports higher stocking rates.   The problem created from this is being taken seriously with significant $ being spent on farm and on research to reduce the impact.   PM me if you want some links.

So why can we not build a pipe/pump line from the aquafers that overseas companies are making millions from instead of sending it overseas. The same aquafers that the Government tells us is water just wasted while flowing to the sea.