Farmers protested perceived attacks from politicians in Morrinsville on Monday, September 18. A new survey shows the majority of New Zealanders want farmers to be taxed for water use.

The majority of New Zealanders want farmers to be taxed for taking water from the environment, a new survey shows.

Who should pay for water has been a flash point for voters ahead of Saturday's election, with farmers protesting Labour's proposed water tax.

The results of a new Water New Zealand survey show the vast majority of Kiwis want commercial water users to be charged, and are concerned about the quality of waterways.

Seventy seven per cent of those surveyed said agriculture and horticulture users should pay for water, as did 77 per cent of participants living in rural communities.

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Fifty nine per cent of respondents said that all water users should pay, and 42 per cent of respondents thought they were already paying for water use.

A clear majority, 89 per cent, thought bottled water companies and similar industries should pay.

"Interestingly, these responses are consistent across city, regional and rural regions," Water New Zealand said in the survey report, released on Wednesday.

The survey asked 4500 New Zealanders a series of 31 questions from May 1 to June 16, 2017.

Respondents were predominantly city dwellers, 73 per cent, a fifth lived in rural communities, 20 per cent, and the minority in regional towns, seven per cent living.

There is no charge for the physical resource of water in New Zealand, though local councils can bill residents water rates to cover the cost of water infrastructure.

There was also a strong response to water quality, with 89 per cent concerned about their drinking water.

Three in every four people were concerned about pollution, compared to only two per cent who ticked "unsure".

Litter and floating plastics were of the most concern, at 63 per cent, followed by sewage over flows, at 53 per cent.

Water New Zealand acknowledged in the report that charging for commercial water is a controversial issue.

It's also been a campaign issue in the run up to the election.

Labour has proposed a tax on irrigated water of 1 to 2 cents per 1000 litres, and a charge of "a few cents" per litre for water bottlers.

On the attack, National's Steven Joyce has claimed some farms would pay $50,000 to $100,000 for a water tax.



On Monda y, agricultural economist Peter Fraser and farm consultant Dr Alison Dewes said On Monday, agricultural economist Peter Fraser and farm consultant Dr Alison Dewes said claims of farmers being burdened with huge costs from a water tax were overblown

Fraser and Dewes, using Dairy NZ figures, said there were 12,000 dairy herds in New Zealand consuming 4.8b cubic metres of water.

Almost all of the water is used by about 2000 farms, primarily in dry areas such as Canterbury and Otago.

The average cost of a water tax on an irrigated dairy farm would be between $10,000 and $15,000, their analysis found.

Industry group Irrigation NZ produced its own analysis on Monday, stating the cost to an average, irrigated farm in Canterbury would be between $24,000 and $29,000.

Around half of irrigation occurs on dairy farms.

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