February 26, 2015
Dairy NZ boosting Waikato clean-up
Dairy NZ will contribute $200,000 to a new initiative to better protect and restore the Waikato River.
The funding will be matched by the crown-iwi Waikato River Authority with some financial and staffing support from Waikato Regional Council.
Dairy NZ chair John Luxton, who co-chairs the authority with Waikato-Tainui's Tukoroirangi Morgan, says a key aim of the Waikato River Restoration Strategy will be to coordinate work by the three groups and other agencies and ensure it is carried out as efficiently as possible.
DairyNZ hs recently led a $2.3 million project to develop more than 600 sustainable milk plans in the upper Waikato River catchment around Karapiro, resulting in more than 4700 individual on-farm actions to help keep farm nutrients out of waterways and protect the environment.
Another $1.3 million of dairy farmers’ levy funds are being invested in three further Waikato initiatives, including 850 sustainable milk plans for the Waipa area, a wetlands project and the new river restoration strategy.
The Waikato River Authority has allocated $22 million to more than 140 projects in four funding rounds.
The three strategy partners are also part of a new Waikato River Restoration Forum, as well as all Waikato River iwi, the Department of Conservation, Fonterra, Genesis Energy, and Mighty River Power, and local councils.
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