The rate of dairy effluent consent compliance in Canterbury has improved over the past year according to preliminary figures released by Environment Canterbury.

During the 2009/10 dairy season - which covers the year to the end of May - 59 percent of Canterbury dairy farms were fully compliant with their effluent discharge consent or permitted activity conditions, an improvement from 43 per cent compliance in the previous year.

Environment Canterbury Commissioner Tom Lambie said the preliminary figures are being released now to align with the end of the dairy season, and would provide farmers and farm-workers feedback and encouragement for continued efforts to meet their dairy effluent consent conditions in the coming season.

The full Canterbury Dairy Report for the 2009/10 season will be released by Environment Canterbury later in the year and will include more detail and analysis, including regional statistics for Canterbury.

"It is very pleasing to see an improvement in the compliance figures, reflecting the work done in collaboration with industry partners and other stakeholders," said Tom Lambie.

Environment Canterbury in 2008 initiated a meeting with industry partners, Fish & Game and Forest & Bird, to discuss ways to improve levels of dairy effluent compliance. A combined industry and Environment Canterbury group was then formed to work collaboratively to improve the level of dairy effluent compliance.

"There has been a combined effort over the past couple of years to lift awareness of dairy effluent issues among dairy farmers while at the same time providing more information and on-farm advice on how to improve compliance levels."

In addition to improved full compliance levels, the rate of significant non-compliance fell to 8 per cent, from 19 per cent in the previous season.

Significant non-compliance issues include effluent ponding, discharge of effluent too close to waterways, as well as nitrogen overloading (an insufficient area for the amount of effluent discharge). During the year there was only one occurrence where dairy effluent was discharged directly into a river, which is currently subject to an enforcement investigation.

Minor non-compliance fell slightly from 35 to 33 percent, and included breaches such as an incomplete management plan or minor ponding of dairy effluent.

"Environment Canterbury and industry partners are continuing to work on a range of initiatives to achieve improved environmental outcomes and compliance levels for dairy effluent discharges," said Tom Lambie.

The industry partners are dairy companies Fonterra, NZ Dairies and Synlait, and industry groups DairyNZ and Federated Farmers.