That is the view of Otago regional councillor Bryan Scott, who has several times this year spoken out at regional council meetings on the need for monitoring and enforcement to ensure water quality standards are maintained.
Council representatives met representatives of rural support organisations, including Federated Farmers and DairyNZ, at a meeting in mid August to discuss working more closely together to improve water quality compliance.
A list of farms at risk of breaching environmental rules was provided to dairy industry representatives.
Cr Scott said this meeting was constructive and said he was ''very positive'' about what the ORC was doing in terms of communication and educational efforts, as well as monitoring and enforcement.
The council's regulatory committee heard recently that Otago dairy industry non compliance in the 2014-15 financial year was the second highest since the council introduced its effluent discharge enforcement policy in 2007.
Eight prosecutions had been undertaken and 20 infringement notices issued in the past financial year.
Council environmental monitoring and operations director Scott MacLean said in the report 451 dairy sheds were operating during the 2014-15 Otago summer milking season, and 416 (89.5%) were compliant.
But 48 dairy farms (10.5%) were found to have one or more breaches that could result in ''adverse effects on the environment'', with 20 of these farms in ''serious non compliance''.
The report warned that a ''balanced approach'' , including ''reinforcement of good practice/behaviour'', was required, with more than enforcement alone needed.
Cr Scott said a ''significant number'' of dairy farmers, including in South Otago and in North Otago, had been ''deemed to be at high risk'' of non compliance.
All businesses and industries in the country needed to comply with an environmental ''bottom line'', he said in an interview.
Dairy farming was ''an industry that has a huge environmental footprint''.
But Cr Scott said ''a significant decision time'' was looming for some land users who had to make a ''significant transition'' to meet the water quality requirements of their industry in Otago.
He said a high proportion of land users recently prosecuted in Otago for effluent ponding did not have fail safe devices installed on their effluent irrigators, to limit pollution if the system malfunctioned.
The water quality rules would be enforced by the council.
Some farmers were ''struggling'' to meet environmental expectations.
All industries had to meet environmental standards and if some land users could not do so, they might have to face the possibility ''they are in the wrong business'', he said.
