Households urged to halve water use
Residents across a large chunk of drought-affected Tasman district are being asked to cut their water consumption by 50 per cent.
‘‘If people could cut household use by half, that would be fantastic,’’ Tasman District Council acting engineering services manager Dwayne Fletcher said on Monday as tougher water restrictions came into force.
Fletcher said the council was looking for a 40 per cent drop across the community. Businesses had been asked specifically to cut their use by 25 per cent ‘‘and that’s because we think we can make other savings in non-business-related areas’’.
‘‘The decision to impose cuts on businesses isn’t taken lightly,’’ Fletcher said. ‘‘It has real implications for them, their operations and their staff. That’s why it’s so important for residential people to think about everything they save. Every litre of water they save is another litre of water we don’t have to ask for from someone who’s going to use it for their business.’’
The restrictions, which include a ban on most outdoor water use, apply to everyone connected to the council’s reticulated supply in Richmond, Hope, Brightwater, Wakefield, Ruby Bay, Mapua, Tapawera and their rural extensions. They also apply to the rural schemes of Dovedale, Eighty-Eight Valley and Redwood Valley.
‘‘This drought is getting very serious,’’ Fletcher said, calling it exceptional. ‘‘The aquifer and river levels have been dropping for quite a while. Our river levels are much lower than they would normally be at this time of year.’’
The last severe drought was in 2000-01 but the big dry of 2019 was ‘‘ahead of schedule’’.
‘‘It is a major drought and the forecast is not great,’’ Fletcher said. ‘‘There might be some rain this weekend but we need a long period of sustained rain to break the drought and to start recharging the rivers and the aquifers.’’
In addition to the 25 per cent cut to businesses and hoped-for 50 per cent saving from households, water permit holders, such as growers, in most Waimea zones and the Motupiko faced a 65 per cent cut as of Monday, which is stage-four rationing.
Fletcher said the firefighting effort to extinguish a large forest blaze, which has been burning in valleys around the plains since February 5, was drawing heavily on water supplies for Wakefield and Brightwater.
‘‘At the same time, we’re asking to reduce takes on those supplies, we’ve got extra demands on them,’’ he said.
Some of the water for the firefighting was coming out of the Wai-iti River. Last week, more than 1000 cubic metres a day was pumped from the Brightwater scheme to Wakefield ‘‘to help keep up with the firefighting requirements’’.
Nelson City Council was supplying 900 cubic metres a day, which was going to an area of mostly residential properties in Richmond.
‘‘We have an agreement in principle to try and increase that,’’ Fletcher said. ‘‘We’re very grateful.’’
To reduce the risk of saltwater contamination of water supply bores serving Richmond, the council had used emergency powers to construct a temporary bund across the lower Waimea River.
The gravel bund would allow water to build up behind it, increasing the freshwater pressure to reduce the risk of incoming tides affecting salt levels in the bores. Fletcher said king tides were expected this week.
‘‘The tides combined with extremely low freshwater flows in the river put our water supply bores at significant risk so the bund is needed to protect the water supplies for Richmond, Mapua and Hope, as well as other aquifer water users,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re taking the lessons we learned in 2001, when two of our production bores had to be shut down permanently due to saltwater contamination, and taking additional measures to protect our water supplies.’’
He urged people not to try to drive over it. ‘‘We’ve already had reports of vehicles damaging the bund and leaking oil into the river.’’
Mayor Richard Kempthorne said initial discussions had been held between the council, the Ministry for Primary Industries and growers about the drought. ‘‘That will be ongoing.’’
If the situation worsened and the economic impact was severe, the council would be looking for the Government to step up with some financial assistance.
Meanwhile, the Government has announced further support to help clean up damage caused by the fire.
Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said Enhanced Taskforce Green had been activated, making $500,000 available to help with the cleanup.
The fires were still burning so the full extent of the damage could not yet be assessed ‘‘but as soon as fires are controlled, it’ll be possible to go into the affected areas and decide what can be done’’.
‘‘Property owners, residents and the community will have their needs assessed,’’ Sepuloni said. ‘‘They may need help with clearing burnt buildings, fences and debris and other work.’’