The importance of incorporating geology, soil, and landscape knowledge in freshwater farm planning in Aotearoa New Zealand

Over half of Aotearoa New Zealand’s (NZ’s) land area is under agriculture or forestry production. Long term monitoring has shown declines in freshwater quality in regions with the most intensive agriculture. The New Zealand government has historically focused on reducing the impact of agriculture on water quality through its Resource Management Act 1991. Lack of improvement in freshwater quality has resulted in the 2020 Essential Freshwater package of reforms which will require all pastoral farms >20 ha in size and all arable farms > 5 ha in size to develop a Freshwater Farm Plan (FFP) by a certified Freshwater Farm Planner. As far as we are aware, New Zealand is the first country in the world to mandate compulsory FFPs. This paper describes the key geological, soil, and landscape factors that need to be considered in an FFP for it to be successful in meeting the 2020 Essential Freshwater objectives. We argue that a greater emphasis should be placed on understanding a farm’s natural resources, as they provide the physical interface between the farming system and both the freshwater and atmospheric ecosystems. Documenting our learning in this area could assist other countries considering Freshwater Farm Planning as a strategy to reduce the impact of agriculture on freshwater quality.