A freebie is going down the drain

This week the use of sprinklers and irrigation systems to water lawns and gardens at home in Tauranga will be banned until the end of summer.

Residents will also not be able to use high-pressure cleaners — businesses can with an approved plan.

It comes after the region was lashed with more rain than usual this year. Metservice data shows from December 2021 to October 2022 Tauranga had more than 1600mm of rain, about 480mm more than the historical average. Rotorua had just under 2000mm, a whopping 800mm more than its historical average.

Tauranga City Council says the city uses an average of 44 million litres of water a day and in summer this can rise to 58 million litres a day. It says the water supply system is under more pressure than ever before and while it falls from the sky, it’s not an endless resource as evidenced by the previous handful of summers.

I couldn’t find the same information on the Rotorua Lakes Council website but I’d hazard a guess its supply, too, takes a decent hit over summer.

Last summer the city was in a Level 1 Water Shortage reducing water availability, the year before it was at Alert Level 2 meaning an impending water shortage.

At the beginning of this year, NZME reported Bay of Plenty farmers were “getting a little bit desperate” as temperatures soared and soil moisture levels fell. Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll also warned the frequency of droughts was likely to increase over time as the globe continued to heat up.

The United States Climate.gov project said in June Earth’s temperature had risen by 0.08C a decade since 1880 but the rate of warming since 1981 was more than twice that: 0.18C.

The Niwa regional prediction for this month to January in the Bay of Plenty said there was an increased risk for dry spells.

That’s all the evidence I need to be convinced rainwater tanks should be mandatory for new builds, domestic and commercial. Many rural properties already rely on one.

Heading into summer, councils are likely to ramp up warnings about water conservation, especially if the seasonal outlook for dry spells turns out to be correct.

Rainwater is a free resource and using it for things like indoor nondrinking use like the toilet and laundry, and outdoor activities like garden watering or car cashing will reduce the water bill.

I believe tanks could also save businesses significant costs, as well as helping the environment by reducing stormwater run-off and reliance on shared community resources.

What’s not to like about all that?