Water priorities come up trumps

The elephant in the room analogy is becoming a bit overworked, but I like it. Lately, the elephant has been really showing off. In the debate about freshwater quality the elephant is nitrogen leaching.

It was brought into the room by conservationists a few years back but attempts to prod it into life largely failed. It just sat stinking in the corner.Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products.

But a few weeks ago Judge Craig Thompson of the Environment Court climbed aboard and hit it with a big stick.

The elephant reared back on its hind legs and let out an ear-splitting roar, loud enough to be heard in every milking shed and dairy factory throughout the land.

Now a group of farmers are approaching it gingerly, ropes in hand, to try to tie it down.

Watching all this, big gun at the ready, is the Government. It has the power to dispose of the beast, but is worried its death throes will injure the country's biggest income earner.

And then along comes the elephant whisperer.

It is the Land and Water Forum. It wants to talk to the elephant nicely and lead it out of the room.

At least something's happening at last.

The court's big stick is a cap on nitrogen leaching on the most susceptible land,Installers and distributors of solar panel, backed by a controversial measuring tool. It has handed the stick to the Manawatu-Whanganui regional council to use.

The forum, which has to represent the myriad views of all those with an interest in water, hasn't gone as far as the court.

Collaboration is the buzzword the forum uses.Find detailed product information for Sinotruk howo truck. It features strongly in its final report on water quality and quantity, I'm told. That report will be released soon and I've been warned not to expect earth-shaking revelations.

It is the culmination of three years of research and, with two earlier reports, brings the forum's recommendations to the Government to 150.

That's a lot, but they can be boiled down to this:

On water quality: Yes, we've got a problem with polluted waterways; we think it should be dealt with at the catchment level by regional councils with government guidance; and we've got some suggestions about how the councils should proceed.

On water quantity it's even simpler: After community drinking and sanitation needs are taken care of, water should be allocated first to those who are most important to New Zealand's economic welfare. In both these cases, the forum is primarily talking about dairy farming.

Basically, it wants the farmers, regional councils and other interested groups to sit down, consider each catchment, talk about it and come up with a mutually agreed solution.

Cristaudo, who finished with two assists in the contest, gave Chopticon the early 1-0 lead as she slapped a shot in the back of the cage, on a cross from junior Jodie Buddenbohn, nine minutes into the game.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. That would be the eventual halftime score.

“If it wasn’t for my teammates, I wouldn’t have been able to score,” Cristaudo said.Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. “Coach ‘V’ gave us our pep talk and we were a different team in the second half. In the first half, we had some chances and just didn’t convert. “Our triangles were great today. In the first half, we didn’t have our sticks down, but we did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Four minutes into the second half, Buddenbohn put the Braves up 2-0 on an assist from senior forward Jessica Belfield. After Cristaudo fed Raley for her first goal of the game a minute later, Belfield added another Braves goal to make the game 4-0 with 14 minutes 57 seconds left.

Raley would score Chopticon’s next two goals to up give it the six-goal lead with under 10 minutes remaining. Belfield found the cage for the second time of the game with 4:58 left to cap off the scoring.

Chopticon’s defense was stout throughout the game, yielding no shots on goal by Stone. Braves senior goalie Shelby Farr earned the shutout without having to make a save due to a strong back line support from her defense.

Stone (1-12), whose lone win came on Sept. 6 versus McDonough, lost to Chopticon in the season opener 12-0, but only gave up one goal in the first half due to its defense.

Stone junior goalie Mikayla Parent had an array of shots come toward her and collected 11 of her game-high 13 saves in the first half to keep her team at bay.