Intensifying rural land use, and to some extent urban growth around Lake Taupō over the past 50 years, has increased the amount of nitrogen entering the lake.
Approximately 93 per cent of the manageable nitrogen entering the lake comes from pastoral land use. Stock urine makes up a large part of this percentage. That’s because it contains high levels of nitrogen – more than plants can use or soil can store, so most of it ends up leaching down through the soil, into groundwater and rivers and ultimately into the lake. Wastewater from treated sewage and septic tank seepage has contributed around seven per cent of the manageable nitrogen load to the lake.
The risk of nitrate leaching is higher over the winter months of May, June, July and August when the soil is much wetter.
Read the rules
Rules adopted by Waikato Regional Council in March 2007 cap the amount of nitrogen leaching from rural and urban properties into Lake Taupō. You can read about these rules online, in chapter 3.10 of the Waikato Regional Plan.
Test your situation
Is farming allowed as a permitted activity in the Taupo Catchment?
If the conditions of rule 3.10.5.1 can be met – then yes, otherwise a consent is required!
a. Where the land is not used to graze stock, no more than 75 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare per year shall l be applied to the land. Where the land is used to graze stock, the maximum number of animals shall be equivalent to any one row of Table 3.10.5.1 below:
| Animal Type | Maximum number of animals permitted per hectare | Maximum number of animals permitted per 10 hectares |
| Dairy cow | 0.9 | 9 |
| Beef cattle | 1.2 | 12 |
| Calf (up to 12 months) | 1.8 | 18 |
| Horse | 1.1 | 11 |
| Sheep | 10.2 | 102 |
| Deer | 4.1 | 41 |
| Goat | 9.8 | 98 |
| Alpaca or Llama | 11 | 110 |
| Pig (free range) | 2.5 | 25 |
b. Progeny of animals grazed under condition a) (such as lambs and calves) are permitted provided that no additional feed is brought on to the property except feed that is supplied as per standard industry practice to meet animal welfare requirements during the period of weaning and stocking rates return to the stock limits outline in condition a) betweeen 1 April and 31 July each year.
c. Non-grazing domestic animals including cats, dogs, chickens and ducks that are kept for domestic purposes are permitted and are not to be taken into account for the purposes of this rule.
d. For the purpose of 1(ii) and 2 above whether or not there is sufficient ntirogen allowance for permitted activity animal numbers and wastewater, will be determined through the process for surrendering the consent.
Need a consent?
If you require consent or have to alter your practices to be compliant, your farm will have to be benchmarked first to get a nitrogen discharge allowance (NDA) assigned. Call the regional council on 0800 800 401 or email info@waikatoregion.govt.nz to start the benchmarking. Once this is done, you can decide what to do with your nitrogen discharge allowance, and you gain a resource consent. The main options are:
1. Continue as you are.
2. Alter your onsite practices but retain all of your nitrogen.
3. Alter your nitrogen levels, either by purchasing or selling nitrogen.
Read more on consents and how to apply for them on the Waikato Regional Council website.
Useful tools
OVERSEER®
A farm management software application that supports farmers and growers to make informed management decisions about their nutrient use on farm to improve performance and reduce losses to the environment.
Nitrogen trading in the Lake Taupō catchment
We are updating our online information concerning Nitrogen trading in the Lake Taupō catchment. In the meantime, please call 0800 800 401 for more information.
More information
For general information about Lake Taupo see: Lake Taupō | Waikato Regional Council
For information about Lake Taupo water quality: see Lake Taupō’s water quality | Waikato Regional Council
Need help?
Contact us if you have any queries or need help.
Waikato Regional Council’s Taupō office
Location: 100 Horomātangi Street
Phone: 07 378 6539 or 0800 800 401
Fax: 07 378 9049
Taupō District Council
Phone: +64 7 376 0899
Email: LTPT@taupo.govt.nz