Overseer

An independent science advisory panel has raised significant concerns about a tool widely used to estimate nitrogen loss from farms.

Scientists say the widely-used Overseer water quality system for estimating farm run-off might not be reliable - and one says it was flawed from the start.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's latest report has focused on a programme used by farmers called Overseer.

The government is failing to manage the risk of farming to human health because there is no tool to manage effluent run-off from farms, Fish and Game says.

The government's nutrient-loss monitoring tool for farms needs to account for runoff that could contaminate waterways, a veterinarian says.