Water watch as summer continues

The Northland Regional Council is keeping a close eye on water levels around the north as summer heats up and parts of the region are already under initial water restrictions.

Council Chair Geoff Crawford says in the Far North district, Level 2 water restrictions (which ban the use of outdoor sprinklers or irrigation systems) are already being applied to households in Kawakawa-Moerewa, Ōmanaia-Rāwene and Ōpononi-Ōmāpere to help preserve water sources that are vulnerable to fluctuating rainfall.

Similarly, in the Kaipara district, Level 2 water restrictions have been in place for Baylys Beach and Dargaville since early December.

Chair Crawford says the NRC’s last Hydrology Climate Report advised that Northland is already in a moderate level of ‘meteorological drought’ (low rainfall) and a low level of hydrological drought (low river flows, groundwater levels, and reservoir levels etc.).

“We’ll be ramping up our monitoring and will keep the public updated, but in the meantime, we’re urging people to be ‘waterwise’ and mindful of how you use your water over summer.”

He says the rainfall Northland received recently has done little to relieve the situation and things would need to be reviewed shortly after the Christmas-New Year period should Northland receive little rainfall over that period.

“There is a risk that, if extended periods of low rainfall continue, Northland could experience an increasing level of hydrological drought (lower river flows, groundwater levels and water reservoirs etc) over the next three months.”

Chair Crawford says pressure on the north’s water supplies typically goes up over the holidays due to Northland being a tourist destination.

He says Bewaterwise.org.nz has some useful water saving tips.