NZ ‘not ready for drought’
More drought could bring disease, power outages and food shortages and New Zealand isn’t ready, a new report warns.
Although the country has historically been ‘‘water-rich’’, New Zealand is not well-prepared to cope with a future involving more drought in some areas.
Kiwi households could be at increased risk of disease because of a water-shortage induced lack of hygiene, the report says.
The country could also face shortages of fruit and vegetables, interruptions to electricity supply, more frequent watering bans and higher prices – or the introduction of water charges – in some areas.
The report raised several questions for further research, one of which has already developed into a project which aims to understand the future of drought for New Zealand.
It’s a big task, but project leader Wageed Kamish, from environmental and engineering consultancy Tonkin and Taylor, says it is achievable.
‘‘Niwa [National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research], our project partner, has already completed a considerable amount of work on climate change projections and these will provide a good platform from which to start,’’ he said.
‘‘Although it is true that farmers and rural communities normally experience the full effects of a drought, we don’t have to look much further than the recent Day Zero scenario in Cape Town to realise that urban areas can also be affected by droughts.’’
Cape Town, South Africa’s second-largest city, was predicted to run out of water in April this year.
Facing its worst drought in a century, the city of four million cut its water usage by nearly half and narrowly avoided becoming the first major city in the world to run completely dry.
Kamish said as New Zealand’s climate changed, water supply systems would have to be adapted accordingly.
‘‘[That] may include new sources, new technologies, increased storage capacity and better management of water usage. In parallel, we need to carefully manage the quality of existing and potential sources now, so as not to jeopardise them for future use.
‘‘The primary key to this is that we adapt our water systems well enough in advance to avoid a Day Zero scenario.
‘‘Adaptation may take several years, so in many cases the planning process needs to start right now.’’
The report was produced as a result of a Deep South Dialogue, run by Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
The dialogue brought together researchers and sector representatives to map current knowledge about how drought will impact New Zealand as the climate changes, and to identify critical knowledge gaps that need to be filled if the country is to adapt.
For example, the report suggested New Zealanders needed a better understanding of the likely incidence of multiregional drought, and the likely nationwide changes in drought incidence.
How future droughts might affect water supply and demand – particularly for the local food production sector, which competes for water with other users – and the impact on vulnerable communities also needed to be looked at.