A report to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council suggests the region's farmers have improved when it comes to complying with dairy effluent rules.

A 2014 survey of compliance on dairy farms in the Bay of Plenty demonstrated improved compliance levels, with no incidents considered serious enough to warrant a prosecution.

Only one dairy prosecution has occurred over the last three seasons.

The council issued seven abatement notices or formal instructions to take action, and 11 infringement notices or fines for serious offences. These are regularly around the $750 mark for most dairy-related offences.

Only one dairy prosecution has been taken in the last three seasons of monitoring, Pollution Prevention Team Leader Steve Pickles said.

The Council monitored 290 dairy discharge consents during late 2014, with three-quarters complying and another 17 percent with low-risk non-compliance.

Less than 10 percent of consents monitored breached conditions related to environmental effects or best practice.

'The top three issues were poorly managed ponds, poorly managed effluent irrigation and poorly managed stormwater diversion systems,” says Steve.

All aspects of the effluent treatment and disposal systems were inspected, while runoff where the property had feedpads or standoff pads were also checked.

'It's great to see overall compliance has improved from the previous season,” he adds.