Waters of Change by Angus Maindonald

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Part 1.

WHAT IS GREEN? Green is the colour between blue and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495‒570 nm. During early modern Europe, green was the colour commonly associated with wealth, merchants, bankers and the gentry. The colour green is now most commonly associated with nature, life, health, youth, spring, hope.

WHAT IS CLEAN? adjective, clean·er, clean·est.

free from dirt; unsoiled; unstained: She bathed and put on a clean dress. free from foreign or extraneous matter: clean water

Are we really Clean & Green?

Oh rejoice! The delights of green swathe elds Sensual to my eyes in its simplicity, Its masculine expanse Let us walk through autumn dew, Till we collapse with joy

Pasture, to you I pass my freedom Live in pleasure on your land

We used to be green If you look out your window. We still are. New Zealand is saturated by hues of green. Our pasture gives us a sense of pride. Or it used too at least. It seems like our de nition of what green constitutes is changing. We push the narrative that we are Clean and Green and this, in many ways, is the truth. In comparison we are cleaner and greener than other countries. But is also a lie we are telling ourselves. Clean and Green is a marketing construct used to promote our country, like a body builder on stage, exing for the rest of the world. We are tensing our green glutes and our clean calfs to not only attract tourists to visit this wondrous land, but also to cultivate a desirable image for consumers in other parts of the world, so they perceive our export products as high quality, premium goods. Economically speaking, this strategy works.

PEOPLE WANT TO COME HERE & PEOPLE WANT TO BUY OUR GOODS

Our exports have built the country we have today.

New Zealand s biggest industry is Agriculture It generates 70% of our merchandise export earnings and 12% of gross domestic product. Farm land for livestock takes up an area of 13.7 million hectares. A signi cant percentage of our agricultural production is is for foreign markets. Dairy cattle number around 6.3 million, producing approximately 21 billion litres of milk per year. Fonterra, a dairy cooperative represents 90% of all milk production, exporting 97% of all production across the border, leaving only 3% to be consumed domestically. This equates to an export value of $19.7 billion which contributed $10.2 billion of direct value add to New Zealand economy. We are known for hosting a conglomerate of sheep, around 27 million in fact, yet 95% of their meat and 90% of wool is exported. This equates to approximately 390,000 tonnes of lamb and mutton, generating $3,775,610 of commercial value. We have around 10.2 million cattle in New Zealand. Last year 1.59 million adult beef cattle, 1.15 million adult dairy cattle and 1.86 million calves and vealers were processed, with 80% of their meat being exported.

A large portion of our vegetables and stone fruit is consumed domestically, with the biggest horticulture exports being avocados, apples, kiwi fruit, squash and corn which go to our biggest horticultural consumer, Southern & Eastern Asia, North America and Europe. Fruit exports do equate to $3.4 billion with total horticultural exports amounting to over $6 billion annually.

North Asia, North America and the European Union are our biggest customers when it comes to exported meat, with China being the biggest export market for dairy, taking approximately $740 million of NZ dairy production. Our GDP is just over $2 billion per annum and agriculture may just be intertwined in every dollar. Sounds like a bloody good deal when we evaluate progress with the conventional Double Bottom Line of Fiscal Performance and Financial Pro t. We use our land to produce masses of food for the world

but what is it doing to our environment?

Who cares

about the environment?

Money doesn t grow on trees.

The price of production?

damage dam dʒ

noun 1. 1. physical harm that impairs the value, usefulness, or normal function of something."bombing caused extensive damage to the town"

It is di cult to convert environmental damage into monetary value, so to compile an economic loss vs. gains scenario comparing current industry to environmental degradation isn t easy. This is where statistics can help paint a bigger picture of the increasing contribution from the agriculture sectors to this degradation of our environment. The statistics featured below focus on the increasing use of harmful chemicals, increased water usage for irrigation and increased release of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which are contributing to overall climate shifts, by our agricultural industry.

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In the last 30 years, chemical fertiliser use has increased 629%. This is due to a combination of an industry wanting higher yields to satisfy increasing demand and decreasing nutrient levels in the soil due to current farming practices which reduce soil fertility. The main chemicals used are nitrogen, phosphorus, urea and potassium. Dairy farming is the top user, followed closely by sheep & beef farming. The primary source of nitrogen emissions in the Agriculture industry is urine

and fecal matter deposited by grazing animals followed by nitrous oxide lost directly following application of fertiliser to soil. Nitrogen is amazing at trapping in heat, being 298 times more e ective than carbon dioxide at keeping you hot and sweaty under our atmospheric sheet. Our greenhouse emissions have increased nearly 25% in the last 20 years. Gross emissions in New Zealand were mainly made up of carbon dioxide (44.5 percent), methane (43.5 percent), and nitrous oxide (9.6 percent) Whilst the biggest contributors for Carbon Dioxide were the transport and construction industries, the main contributor to gross Methane emissions were livestock, hitting heavy with approximately 85.8% of all methane produced. The gas is mostly created through livestock digestion, and with livestock numbers increasing by 3 million in the last 20 years we are adding some serious expulsion of gases to the equation. Methane is 25 times more e ective at trapping heat than our well known villain Carbon Dioxide. We are creating a deliciously hot atmosphere by trapping the heat in with layers of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

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We use and store large quantities of freshwater for irrigation of pasture and produce. Irrigation has risen 91% since 2002, with the dairy farming industry increasing it s overall irrigated land by over 200%. There have been large conversions of more arid farmland into dairy grazing pasture through irrigation. Our want to convert large swathes of land for uses which are more water intensive, such as dairy farming on the Canterbury plains (which accounts for 64% of irrigated land in New Zealand) has led to an estimated use of 4.8 billion cubic meters of water, or approximately the water usage of 58.2 million people. Currently 58% of all water allocated by Regional councils is used in irrigation. With potential for increased droughts as global average temperatures rise, water being used in this way may not be the most e ective and e cient use of fresh water for population and environmental health.

CAUSE & EFFECT Our land and especially our water quality has been signi cantly a ected by our current practices in agriculture and horticulture. 2/3rds of our rivers are polluted to a point where they are unsafe to swim, with many of our lakes su ering irreversible damage to their biodiversity and overall water quality. It s not only our agriculture industry that; s contributing all this pollution however, all our industrial practices are. Factories, sewage & urban contamination play a part in this environmental degradation too. However the contribution of contaminants from agriculture, especially dairy, is larger than the other culprits Excess chemical fertiliser runo contaminates soil, destroying the natural micro-biome, whilst owing into our water ways causing excess weed growth, toxicity for sh and invertebrates alongside intense and damaging algal blooms. E uent from agriculture discharged into waterways can signi cantly reduce the ability of the water to support aquatic life proliferating a loss of oxygen as the damaged plants die and decompose. When e uent is continually discharged to a waterway, the water quality can deteriorate to a degree that most dissolved oxygen is extinguished, leaving an environment completely debilitated and unable to support life. With livestock numbers increasing, the trampling and pugging of soils in periods of wet weather, especially around unfenced waterways consistently causes erosion of banks and increased contamination rates of our water. With more livestock, the chances of erosion of our land and contamination of our water increase exponentially.

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Irrigation systems are being added to aid the development of agriculture, progressing with our economic aims and international trade.

For every litre of milk, 1000 litres of water is needed. Changes in ow variability and water levels alter available mahinga kai (natural food source areas), and cause uctuations in the invertebrate levels needed for food chain stability. Decreasing water levels can reduce habitat for specie s spawning success, disturbing natural ebbs and ows of waterways to which species have developed, over many years, direct responses too. If our species have reduced food, reduced habitat and many more variables introduced to their habitat which they have not adapted too, their overall species numbers will continue to wane in the long term. The journeys that native sh need to make up and downstream to complete their life cycles are more di cult or impossible when there are low ows and barriers like weirs and dams in rivers and streams. Draining water and placing it in foreign locations through irrigation reduces specialist habitats such as riparian wetlands, backwaters and intermittent streams. This has a ow on e ect to reducing species diversity. Changes in sediment levels, water quality and algae accumulation are all e ects of taking water for irrigation. Reduced or less variable ows can increase the temperature and the concentration of nutrients and pathogens in a waterway, and increase the chances of harmful algal blooms. In 2017, 76 percent of our native freshwater sh (39 of 51 species) were either threatened or at risk of extinction. According to LAWA, over the last 10 years, where site date has been recorded, there has been no increase in macroinverterbrates levels, only marked decreases in some sites.

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Larger stock numbers in elds can cause higher rates of erosion, which contributes to loss of nutrients from soils and sediment in rivers which dilutes quality, creating less suitable habitats for spawning of certain species. In areas of high rainfall, pugging of elds can result in extensive damage to topsoil and increase e uent runo rates into waterways. Indicators for aquatic macro-invertebrates have shown a general decline over the past two decades, impairing the growth and

reproductive ability of sensitive species, and constraining their diversity and abundance.

Global temperatures are rising due to increasing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Currently we are experiencing consistently hotter average temperatures, more extreme weather events like droughts and cyclones, ocean acidi cation, and more extreme rainfall.

The irony of this situation is that it s putting our current agricultural industry at harm through increasing the range of diseases and pests that can nd our geographical location habitable. This could a ect crop quantity and quality, but also severely damage our native ora and fauna. Not only will be be at the mercy of pests and disease but out agricultural systems will start to su er at the hands of more severe weather, like droughts and rain a ecting yield and habit for livestock. The potential for reduced groundwater tables in summer months will restrict our current usage of our freshwater sources, which we are now heavily relying on for increases in dairy farming.

Science is showing that our environment, especially our water, is being adversely e ected by our current production capacity and production methods for agricultural goods. We are contributing to declining biodiversity, water quality and land quality, so we can produce goods for foreign markets. These damaging e ects will only come back to bite us in the long term.

Can you remember? A time in ever clear, Crystal mountain streams owing so freely, here & there.

Can you remember? Or was it just a dream? A time when we could laugh and swim In our back garden s loving stream

How do our Farmers feel? The agriculture industry provides 83,300 jobs, with 50,000 jobs being supported by the Dairy industry. Farming has been a backbone of New Zealand s economy and is a signi cant part of our cultural landscape and our aesthetic as a country since European colonisation in the 19th century. With over 70,000 farms covering just under half of New Zealand s land area, our nation has been providing the world with quality goods since 1882. Most people in New Zealand have fond memories at A&P Shows (agricultural and pastoral), with these gatherings being a hallmark of regional communities. Fonterra, the biggest dairy company, a co-operative owned by around 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports. Farming had it s cultural peak in the 1950 s and 1960 s when the introduction of arti cial insemination, chemical fertilisers, better pasture plants and prices for meat and dairy were high. We are now in our economic peak Since with increasing numbers of cows, but a reduction in the amount of farmers. Even though more people aren't farming, this doesn t change the fact that people still care about this part of our culture. It s their lifestyle, their pride and joy, their livelihood and they are not ready to let it go yet. Many farmers believe they are not causing harm, with Dairy Companies association of New Zealand stating that New Zealand climate, soil, and abundant water create the perfect environment for growing grass They state that we, as a nation, are farming in a way that cares for our cows, the land, our environment and communities.

Not everybody see s this prosperous angle of farming. Regional councils are informed about our water quality and excessive use of water by the Dairy industry and have proposed restrictions and taxation to water

usage, aimed at stemming degradation to our waterways. This was met by criticism and confrontation by the Chair of Irrigation NZ. They stated that there are already a number of existing incentives that encourage e cient water use including electricity costs and regulatory nutrient limit rules. The chair stated that what New Zealand really needs is more investment in irrigation projects to ensure we have enough water to supply our growing population and to get through more frequent future droughts caused by global warming. There are also concerns for farmers nancial stability because in many regions they may face signi cant water tax costs in excess of $10,000 a year which will make it more di cult to fund the environmental improvements that will help regenerate and protect our damaged waterways. It was stated that the biggest improvements in water use e ciency come from modernising irrigation systems. Farmers and irrigation schemes have already invested $1.7 billion to modernise since 2011. Introducing a major new tax will reduce the ability to farmer to replace an older irrigation system with a more water e cient model. There is also the debate of geographic suitability for land use. Some regions receive a signi cant amount of rainfall and farmers don t need to use irrigation. Only 7% of farmers use irrigation nationwide ‒ why are those farmers being targeted to pay a tax which 93% of farmers won t pay when there are many regions which have very poor waterways but no need for irrigation. It would be scary if we didn t have irrigation water for the whole of Mid-Canterbury. I employ two sta members, I ve got two kids in the local school ... there s all the impacts on that as well. Ashburton mayor Neil Brown says the consent rollover is vital to the region.

It s not a consent to pollute, it s a

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consent to farm.

This means the farmers can carry on doing what they re doing ... without irrigation they d have to stop, and that s not an option. Regional councils are clamping down on the free-for-all that has been happening when it comes to the allocation of water. They are creating new policies dictating that farmers and growers will now need to present new proposals for current water takes. Current allocation could be restricted and farmers having to go through the application process with a chance of being denied water is causing fear in farming communities nationwide.

For some the biggest concern is the loss of freedom, the loss of jobs or the loss of pride that comes with not being able to make a living the way your forefathers did. Will we lose the good ol kiwi lifestyle? What about the land we ve toiled over for generations?

There is fear for others in New Zealand about the safety and reliability of drinking water, the lack of opportunity to swim and sh from our rivers, and the very real consequences that are becoming more and more poignant in Anthroprocene era.

Water, falls. Drenching my soul Cascading through me, You give me; Life. Water, Lord of all being You are in everything Everything is you

In the valleys Your ancient chambers, Underground in constant action, Everything feeds from your decadence We are your children With serpent tongues Your beauty Stomped and tarnished By our hands,

We give We give No. We take All we can In return for life we are killing you.

Things do change. The only question is that since things are deteriorating so quickly, will society and man's habits change quickly enough?

Isaac Asimov

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Environmental degradation isn t new. The human race have known about it for many decades. It seems however, that we are now seeing more pronounced e ects than we have witnessed in eras gone by. In our country, decision makers have known about the degradation of our water ways for a long time. The initial move of the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord, agreed upon in 2003 was a response to environmental concerns about farming. The Dairying and Clean Streams Accord was established with the goal to reduce the level of water pollution through by exclusion of stock from waterways, chemical and nutrient control and e uent management on farms. There were some improvements, a start, but the act didn t eliminate the pollution it set out to.

There are still voices raised, with concerned and urgent tones, pushing for better environmental conditions. The younger generation has made a very loud statement that they care. On April 9th, 2019, 170,000 people marched in the School Strike for Climate in New Zealand. This peaceful demonstration was set in motion to challenge the current antienvironment agenda waged furiously by big industry. They had demands for fossil fuel reduction, investment in renewable energies, climate education, accountability to our Paci c neighbours and a number of stand alone demands for agriculture These are as follows: Promote sustainable methods of farming such as regenerative farming • Invest in cleaner agricultural resources and processes • Invest further research and development into alternative methods of emission reduction for this sector • Launch and fund an independent inquiry (including research & development) into cleaner and more sustainable fertilisers • Provide support from Central Government to farmers, in order for them to transition to sustainable farming practices The Government have been listening to the concerns of the people. Parliament introduced the Zero Carbon Bill on the 8th of May 2019 to help meet the Paris Agreement of reducing planetary warming to under 1.5 degrees above pre industrial temperatures.

The plan is simple. It will provide a framework by which New Zealand can develop and implement clear and stable climate change policies that contribute to the global e ort under the Paris Agreement to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This involves reducing all net emissions of green house gas to zero by 2050. This net emissions reduction excludes biogenic methane which our livestock produce. The agriculture industry only needs to reduce their emissions by 24-47% below 2017 levels by 2050. It s a start but as stated before, our agricultural emissions are more e ective at warming our planet than carbon emissions.

The Government has also established a set of Clean Water practices, which are aimed at making 90% of New Zealand rivers swimmable by 2040. They are now not only checking for E.Coli, but are now correlate into and accounting on periphyton levels̶a soup of algae, cyanobacteria, microbes and detritus̶to concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus; the two major agricultural pollutants. Nitrogen and phosphorus will now be part of a nutrient accounting system, where Farmers and Growers will be required to account for their contribution of these chemicals to streams at certain locations. Councils abiding by the Clean Water Practices are now taking data on microinverterbrate health, The health of the inverterbrates, which are the foundation of aquatic foods chains have been correlated to the Mauri, commonly translated as the life force , of a river. The spiritual aspect of Mauri, and our inherent connection to water being included in decision making about waterways. Thinking about spiritual aspects of environmental health is a paradigm shift for contemporary New Zealand. The protection of Mauri ensures the environment retains its strength and vitality ‒ when Mauri is strong, ora and fauna are seen to ourish; when Mauri is depleted the ability to support life is weak or nonexistent. When microinverterbrates are healthy, there is a direct correlation to the overall health or a waterway.

Mauri is being used as a measurement system as a result of Māori being given more voice in decision making about the environment. This has provided a platform for environmental health to be briefed from a Te Ao Māori perspective. This perspective gives back to the environment, and doesn t just take from it. An example of our Nations evolution in spiritual perspective concerning the environment is the decision to grant Whanganui Awa personhood as of 2017. The decision was made based on the sacred nature of the body of water, as viewed by the Hinengāku of the upper river, Tama Ūpoko of the middle reaches and

Tūpoho of the lower Whanganui. Their ancestors have lived beside its banks for 700 years. The Framework of Te awa Tupua is based around the intrinsic spiritual and metaphysical belief systems of Māori, shifting from what can we take from our water , to what can we do for our water Environment Minister David Parker has stated We're not only

going to clean up our rivers, we're also going to protect our estuaries, going to make sure our beaches aren't polluted with stormwater over ows and sewerage systems, and restore New Zealand's waterways to the state they used to be.

New restrictions are being imposed for livestocks accessibility to waterways. As of 1 July 2023 all dairy cattle and pigs, and for beef cattle and deer will be restricted from waterways, with all stock needing to be excluded from natural wetlands identi ed in regional or district

plans by this date with fences restricted to 3 metres from the edge of the riverbed. Water meters with the ability to store data and electronically transfer data to councils will be required for farmers with water consents used for irrigation purposes. These devices will be able to monitor water usage at 15 minute intervals and transfer this data to relevant councils on a daily basis. The new regulations will apply to water takes greater than 20 litres per second from 2022. From July 2021 nutrient limits will apply with a cap of 190kg nitrogen per hectare per year. Dairy farms will be required to report their nitrogen use to councils annually. Estimates on the number of dairy farms that would currently exceed the nitrogen cap, range from approximately 20% to 35%. In addition to farmers reporting on fertiliser use, fertiliser companies will also need to report on their sales of all nitrogen fertilisers. New 2021 budget announcements have stated the Government has set aside $60 million to help Farmers transition to greener practices with lower emissions . Compare this to the $80 million the public sector will receive to become carbon neutral by 2025. We could make some headway if we reduce the ambiguity about what greener practices entail.

Currently New Zealand is a little worse for wear when it comes to our waterways. They aren t really that clean even though our pasture is green. With the new policies by our Government, when we will see measurable change?

I see change.

I see change. Summer ends when summer starts Water was blue Now green as grass Do we dare to sit still, in the pasture of our actions Do we dare to swim, in the rivers of consequence. Will we know how to connect Will we have time? Blind leading us far from wealth. We step into the abyss of greed Like children snatching for toys Lurching with fervour Destroying planetary health Could it be considered a crime? Lurching with fervour, Staking claim To an entity which can never be owned. I see change. The water, confused in the mire of earth Our soil, with no children to support it now slipping into the clutches of progress. I have a dream, that one day land will not be judged by it s aptitude for pro t, but by the diversity of the growth it possesses.

I see change. The wind doesn t blow the same. Depressed in stagnant indi erence Why don t you frisk my thoughts anymore? Now my mind sinks Gripped by pictures of a desolate tomorrow.

Will we have an earth to walk on? Will we have to learn to swim; Perpetually? In our own lth, In this mess we ve made I see change. But our current ways are not progressive. They are for pleasure. Let us now look to nd joy, In the creation of new paradigms New times New states of mind Alternative lines Where our rivers run clean, Through city and eld Through us as people Connected and content Protecting our source of life. Now. This is the time to act. Now. This is the only time. Now. This is. Now. I see change.

Now.

Composed by Angus Maindonald In Collaboration with Gizzy Local