Western Bay dairy farmers are the poorest performers in the Bay of Plenty region when it comes to dairy effluent compliance.
Routine farm dairy effluent compliance monitoring in the eastern and western Bay of Plenty shows a continued poor performance for dairy farms west of the Kaituna River to Waihi Beach – including those draining into the Tauranga Harbour.

'At 83 per cent compliance, dairy farms in this area were the only catchment we monitored to perform below the 90 per cent compliance mark,” says Environment BOP Councillor, Malcolm Whitaker.
'This is very disappointing, especially given the concerns over land use practices affecting Tauranga Harbour's water quality and the ongoing initiatives and investment underway to protect and restore the harbour.”
Of the 302 dairy sites visited in late 2009, Bay-wide compliance was 93 per cent. Nineteen sites, seven per cent, had significant non-compliance at the first visit – the lowest in five years. All sites with significant non-compliance are followed up until the issue is addressed.
Dairy farms in the Whakatane/Waimana River catchment had performed very well, with no significant non-compliance issues observed. Farmers in the Galatea/Waiohau catchment also improved upon the 2008/09 season with only one site found to have a significant non-compliance issue.
The latest round of monitoring did not include dairy farms in the Rotorua Lakes catchments, which were audited separately in August and September 2009. There are about 700 dairy farms in the Bay of Plenty region and a portion of these are monitored each year based on their previous performance.
The regional council will take enforcement action where significant non-compliance is identified says EBOP group manager Eddie Grogan.
'Unfortunately, the actions of a few operators are downgrading what would otherwise be a very successful year,” says Eddie.