In April 2015 Roger MacGibbon from Opus was like a boy in a sand pit. Photo: RNZ/Susan Murray
He and his digger dug, and dug and dug. They dug six ponds that now form part of an interconnected wetland which in turn is part of a two year, $250,000, research project aiming to provide "how to" information about wetlands.
Wetlands are one of the ways farmers can remove harmful nutrients from their farms and Roger says they'll have a definite role in the Waikato landscape.
As well as design aspects of wetlands, the project will highlight how much it costs to remove the nutrients using a wetland. This, says Roger, will be a big step forward.
"Conservationist Gordon Stephenson said to me 'the day we can have a farmer looking up at his hills and seeing nitrogen and phosphorus and water movement as they do pasture growth and livestock condition, then we won't have a problem', and I think he's absolutely right. But we have a bit of learning to do before we reach that stage."
Click here to see the wetland construction and development.
Wetlands Overview Photo: DairyNZ
