Consent’s helped by survey data

A survey of how much land is being used for growing fruit and vege will provide important information for consenting, planning and demand for water in summer.

This month Council staff are underway with mapping crop types and land uses, aiming to gather data that will be compared with trends over past surveys.

“The data helps us assess requirements for resource consents and water permits more accurately,” says shared services science manager Lois Easton, “and provides insight into irrigation needs that will help us manage new water limits set in the freshwater management plan.”

“We began surveying summer crops in the Poverty Bay Flats nine years ago, and are in the second year of surveying inland to Motu and up the coast,” says Ms Easton.

“The surveys are carried out from the roadside by recording crop types and land area onto maps.

“We’re also drawing information from irrigation management plans submitted by permit holders and will be contacting some of the larger commercial growers directly.”

The results of the survey will detail what is being grown and how this is changing.

Ms Easton says if more water intensive crops are being grown, such as kiwifruit, squash, citrus, pip and stone fruit there could be an increased demand on the catchment’s water resources.

“Grapes use less water for irrigation and currently occupy about 10% of the Poverty Bay Flats but the area planted in grapes has declined since 2007 - from 2300 hectares to 1850 hectares.

“We’ve also seen a decrease in the hectares of citrus, pip and stone fruit in the last two years and a steady increase in kiwifruit – which has grown from 300 hectares to 450 hectares since 2007.”

There’s also been an overall decline in processing vegetables since 2007.

Lettuce and cabbage decreased from 167 hectares to only 64 hectares in the 2014/15 summer season.

Tomatoes have fluctuated, but last season’s production was half the amount it was in summer 2007/08.

The largest summer crop in the region is maize and sweetcorn (not including pasture), and has been since the first survey. Last season, 30% of the land surveyed was maize and corn, equivalent to 7500 hectares.

“Tracking large scale changes in land use is an important aspect of maintaining a strategic perspective on water management in river and groundwater catchments,” says Ms Easton.

The survey will be completed by the end of January and staff will cover the Poverty Bay Flats, Muriwai, Matawai, Motu, as well as Tolaga, Ruatoria, and Tikitiki.

The results of the survey will be available in the next few months.

Mayor Meng Foon says the data collection is important. “The sustainability of water usage is the key driver for Council to plan for the future of water requirements.”

Anyone with questions about this project should contact the Water Conservation team on 06 867 2049.

ENDS

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