Hawea Flat campaign group Preserve Our Water (POW) is continuing to lobby the Otago Regional Council to guarantee the quality of drinking water and rivers, and will hold a public meeting with the council later this month.
POW spokesmen Mark Thomas and Hugh Barnard last week forwarded seven questions to ORC director of environmental information and science John Threlfall, seeking clarification on issues such as trigger levels for nitrate concentrations, conditions on dairy effluent discharges, restrictions on intensive agriculture around vulnerable aquifers, likely remedial actions if contamination occurred, drinking-water standards, stocking rates and alternative sources of drinking water if aquifers have to recover from contamination.
Dr Threlfall said, when asked to respond on Friday, guarantees were not possible but the council would keep communication channels open and was willing to answer the residents' questions at a meeting.
"They are very good questions. I have no problems with them. We've asked them internally, anyway," he said.
The council could not make guarantees about water quality because some factors - such as land use controls, which are governed by the Queenstown Lakes District Council's district plan - were beyond the council's control, he said.
Dr Threlfall yesterday provided clarifying information to POW, and also responded again to the Otago Daily Times.
Nitrate leaching research reports had found nitrate losses were natural and all farming produced some losses, he said.
The regional council would be modelling the Hawea aquifer over the next six months to give a much better understanding of flow direction and potential sensitive areas for increased nitrate concentration.
These results would be considered as part of the council's water plan change proposal, which would be publicly notified for submissions next year.
"There are two bores, part of a national network of monitoring, with at least 10 years of data. One is in the Hawea Flat township, so we know what land use is producing now and will be able to see any change over time in the future," Dr Threlfall said.
Mr Thomas and Mr Barnard said in a joint statement on Friday community support for the group was excellent.
The group was not against dairy farming, and dairy farmers should be allowed to go about their business. Nor was the campaign aimed at Australian-based Hawea Flat land owners Jim and Jenny Cooper, who are converting Camp Hill Station to a dairy farm, they said.
"Rather, it is a campaign to ensure farming practices are not to be at the expense of our drinking water quality or the water quality of our rivers. The campaign also recognises the reality that the Cooper farm could be the first of many dairy farms in the area.
"If the Otago Regional Council and the farming industry can guarantee those basic water quality concepts, there won't be any problems. Unfortunately, that has not been the case anywhere in New Zealand so far.
In fact, Environment Southland has just released a report stating 89% of its rivers and streams have poor or very poor quality rating due to intensified farming practices. They are now fighting a rearguard action to ... clean up their waterways," the spokesmen said.
• Mr Thomas has clarified his comments reported in the Otago Daily Times following last Tuesday's ORC meeting, when he highlighted the shallow depth of some Hawea Flat bores.
"The shallowest of the bores are at 8-10m, but there is a range of bore depths throughout the township, with many at 15-25m," he said.
