Manawatu¯ River level at historic 30-year low
‘‘The Manawatu¯ , like all of our rivers, is unusually low for this time of year.’’ Horizons Regional Council senior catchment data co-ordinator Paul Peters
Manawatu¯ River’s water level in Palmerston North has reached lows last seen 30 years ago.
A month of dry weather has caused ‘‘unusually low’’ water levels that are expected to stay low for at least another week.
Horizons Regional Council senior catchment data co-ordinator Paul Peters said the Manawatu¯ River at the old Teachers’ College site, near Hokowhitu Lagoon, is the lowest it’s been since records began at that site in November 1987.
‘‘The Manawatu¯ , like all of our rivers, is unusually low for this time of year. However, it is not low in relation to their normal low-flow levels that are more typically associated with summer conditions.’’
The river flow is now about 15,951 cubic metre per second. The average annual low for the river in Palmerston North is 15,735m3/s, based on records from 1923 to 2005.
The lowest flow ever recorded was 8907m3/s in March 2013, Peters said.
Water levels could stay low until mid-december, as little to no rainfall was expected in Palmerston North.
Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said it didn’t look like many showers were en route, but a bout of rain could hit Palmerston North tomorrow.
‘‘I don’t think it’s a great chance. ‘‘The long-range forecast is not for a lot of rain in the region in the next eight to 10 days.’’
As at Thursday, the Whanganui Niwa station had experienced 30 consecutive days of dry whether with less than 1 millimetre of rain falling on any given day, Noll said.
The Palmerston North station experienced eight consecutive days of dry weather as it rained about 3.6mm on November 30, he said.
Before that, Palmerston North had a 21-day dry spell. In November, the Palmerston North weather station had 22.2mm of rainfall, far less than November 2016 when there was 154.4mm of rainfall, Noll said.
‘‘It’s a huge switch.’’
As the prospect of further dry weather looms, the Palmerston North City Council won’t be watering flowerbeds in the city.
The only bits of green that will be irrigated are the events quadrant in The Square, Main St gardens and Fitzherbert Park. Level-two water restrictions banning the use of sprinklers and irrigation systems are in place for Palmerston North residents.
Meanwhile, farms throughout Manawatu¯ are having to get water delivered to their properties as water tanks run dry.
Domestic Water Services Nigel Hobden said the shortage was mainly around Bulls and Marton.
Hobden delivered about 10 truck loads of 10,500 litres of water each day.
The water comes from Marton, Bulls and Feilding’s town supply.