In New Zealand "dirty dairying" refers to damage to the ecological health of New Zealand's freshwater environment by the intensification of dairy farming,[1] and also to the high profile campaign begun in 2002 by the Fish and Game Council to highlight and combat this.
[5] Intensive dairy farming practices has led to water pollution from cattle effluent in many of the streams and rivers in New Zealand.
The Waikato River has had a long history of water pollution and now fails health regulations for human contact.
A study using water quality data from 1996 to 2002 found that the vast majority of lowland rivers and streams passing through pastoral land were polluted.
Over a four-year period from July 2008 until June 2012 at least 151 prosecutions involving 300 charges were made for unlawful discharges of dairy effluent.