WATER WATCH
Do we have enough?
"Water cannot be taken for granted." Dora Luo, Palmerston North City Council water asset engineer
Palmerston North has more stored water available in late January’s heat wave than it did before Christmas, but conservation is still needed.
Just before the summer holidays, the water level at the upper Turitea dam had dropped to 3.8 metres below the rim, and preparations were made to introduce a total ban on the use of garden hoses in early January.
But enough rain fell to ward off the crisis measures, people went away for holidays and there was reduced demand, boosting the water level back up to 1.3m below the top of the dam by January 25.
Palmerston North City Council water asset engineer Dora Luo said while the improvement was a relief, it was still only ‘‘OK’’ for the time of year.
In previous years, dry autumns had plunged the city into serious water-saving mode as late as April.
The city was using about 25,000 cubic metres of water a day at the moment, which was about the annual average, suggesting most residents were abiding by the level-two hosing restrictions that were in place.
Level-two restrictions allowed two hours of hand-held hosing on alternate evenings.
The city depends on water from Turitea for half of its supply during summer.
The bores that supplied the rest would soon be boosted by the commissioning of another bore at Papaioea Park that would almost double capacity to draw water from underground.
It would help a lot, but Luo said the Horizons Regional Council’s One Plan would soon place limits on the city’s water take.
The city was likely to be restricted to taking 300 litres of water a day per person. Current estimates were that level-two restrictions were necessary to reduce demand to that level. ‘‘Water conservation is a long-term issue and everyone has to be aware water cannot be taken for granted.’’