Earlier this year, Environment Canterbury released the
Council's decision on the proposed Canterbury Land and Water
Regional Plan (LWRP). The LWRP represents a new framework for
managing Canterbury's water resources and for delivering the
outcomes set out in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
A key part of the LWRP and one which will have a major impact on
rural land users, is the requirement for farmers to gather data on
nutrient losses – in particular nitrogen – and to
develop nutrient budgets using the "Overseer®"
programme.
Nutrient budgets are required under the LWRP because the plan
sets limits on the amounts of nutrients such as nitrogen that can
be leached into the environment – especially in zones where
current water quality objectives are not being met. In the
"red" zones (those areas where current water quality
objectives are not being met) this will affect the ability of
farmers to change land uses, for example converting from dryland
