The dairy industry says the government's stricter freshwater policies could cost New Zealanders more than $80 billion over the next 30 years.

Industry body Dairy NZ has commissioned research showing the cost equates to $38,000 for every household.

Those figures are much higher for Southland, Taranaki and the West Coast would fork out $120,000 for the policy

Dairy NZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle told Kate Hawkesby that while farmers are committed to doing their part to clean up our rivers, they feel that there are water quality targets that better meet the intended goal.

He says the cost figures come from very low target values for nitrogen and phosphorus.

“We’ve got a team of water quality scientists. We’ve got economists we’ve contracted to do this work, and they’ve looked at all aspects of essential freshwater.”

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