Water restrictions loom

Water restrictions are looming for Palmerston North as storage at the Turitea dam falls significantly.

Three Waters group manager Mike Monaghan said the El Niño weather pattern, with low rainfall, hot temperatures and westerly winds was creating a challenge. If restrictions were brought in, it would be for the first summer in four years for Palmerston North.

For now, Monaghan was encouraging residents to step up on voluntary outdoor water conservation efforts which had worked in previous years to avoid mandatory restrictions.

The key water conservation message, which could be enforced in the near future, was to limit outdoor watering to 7pm to 9pm on alternate days.

People’s efforts so far had seen demand remain consistent rather than spike.

But the lack of rainfall meant the Turitea dam, which supplied two-thirds of the city’s drinking water, was not being replenished. “Our voluntary Summer Water Use initiative has worked well over previous years, but an El Niño means we’re not expecting any decent rain until autumn.”

If restrictions were brought in, they would make the voluntary conservation measures enforceable.

“Many towns and cities, including those around us, are already in restrictions, but our community’s efforts with our voluntary Summer Water Use initiative means we’ve been able to ward them off, for now.” Monaghan said Palmerston North was fortunate compared to many other cities and districts.

“We have planned well and have a range of water sources available.

“It’s important we all take a good look at our water use and see what we can do to conserve water this summer.”