A string of hot days this week has seen water demand remain high, putting pressure on the city’s water supply. Christchurch City Council is asking residents to take it easy when watering gardens and lawns on hot days to help control the load on the water supply system.

City Water and Waste Unit Manager Mark Christison says “Over the past week Christchurch residents have gone through over 200,000 cubic metres of water a day, that’s almost 90 Olympic swimming pools every day.

“We’d like to thank Christchurch residents for their efforts so far and overall people have been really sensible about their water use this summer. We just need to be mindful that we have not fully restored the pre-earthquake water supply infrastructure and we need to think about the amount of water we use on our gardens and lawns.”

Last year Christchurch had water shortages and restrictions because of damaged water pipes. So far the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team has replaced 20 kilometres of freshwater piping, enough to stretch from Cathedral Square to Kaiapoi.

Three new water reservoirs have been built in Huntsbury Hill and Victoria Park, while New Brighton’s new fresh water station in Rawhiti Domain is now pumping water to residents from three new wells. A large amount of work has been completed by the Council’s well drilling contractors.

“We’d like to ask people to be aware of how much water they are using and adopt simple measures to lower water use.”

People can find out more information on water saving tips on the Christchurch City Council website.

The supply of water to Sumner and Redcliffs has been restored after a temporary loss of service this morning (Tuesday 29 January).

Of the two feed lines that service the area, one is under repair. A valve on the working line appears to have been inadvertently closed for a short period.

Water samples taken from the Richmond Water supply for the last three days are all clear.

The Ministry of Health has this morning confirmed that the boil water requirement can be lifted.

The testing was required as a result of recent heavy rain, when the water quality of the water from the Richmond Water Scheme had been compromised with low level contamination.

Council will continue its regular programme of monitoring and sampling water supplies.

Thank you for your co-operation.

For further information please call the Council on 03 543 8400.

• View a map of the Richmond water scheme

Extra information for food businesses:

• After the boil water notice has been lifted, replace any carbon/activated charcoal filters in your drinking water system, as they may have been contaminated and bacteria can grow in the carbon.

Map

A map identifying the extent of the Richmond scheme is shown below. The Richmond scheme is shown in blue.

Richmond Boil Water Map (pdf, 718 KB)

Northland’s district councils, major industries and consented water users are being urged to closely monitor their water use and prepare for possible shortages and restrictions unless there is significant rain over the next month or two.

Dry conditions in the Hikurangi area during Northland's 2010 drought.  Officials are warning of a lack of rain this summer too.

Dale Hansen, Water Resources / Hydrology Programme Manager for the Northland Regional Council, says rain over the past several months has been significantly lower than usual in many parts of Northland.

“‘This month has also has been dry with low rainfall amounts, high temperatures and persistent westerly winds resulting in low soil moistures and reduced water resources.”

Mr Hansen says low soil moisture levels are likely to continue and river flows and ground water levels are expected to recede further throughout February and March if the region does not receive sufficient rain.

That puts a number of areas at risk of potential water shortages, including western areas of Kaipara from Kaihu to Pouto Point, the central areas south of Kaikohe and west of Whangarei, and Bream Bay and the southern Kaipara districts.  (Moderate to significant rain which fell in the Far North and eastern parts of the region in late December meant things were not as serious there at this stage.)

Mr Hansen says realistically, many parts of Northland will need about 80 to 100mm of rain – effectively the average monthly rainfall for February - over the next few weeks to ease the situation and avoid water shortages and possible restrictions.

“The regional council is encouraging Northlanders in affected areas to conserve water wherever practical and prepare for possible water shortages and restrictions.”

With that in mind, the regional council has today (subs: Fri 25 January) begun sending out letters to about 400 water use resource consent holders urging them to closely monitor their water use.

Those consent holders range from private individuals taking several thousand litres a day to some major users taking hundreds of thousands of litres, including Northland’s district councils and major industries.

Mr Hansen says as well as urging the consent holders to conserve water, they’re also being asked to ensure their water use, stream flows, groundwater and lake levels are closely monitored in accordance with their consent conditions.

The regional council is also encouraging them to plan for shortages, including investigating alternative supplies or the possibility of water rationing, to ensure they meet consent conditions if things don’t improve over the coming weeks.

He says the regional council will continue to closely monitor rainfall, groundwater levels and stream flows around Northland and updated affected parties as required.  This would include regular contact with district councils which were responsible for town water supplies.

Meanwhile, despite the regional council’s early call for restraint with water use, Mr Hansen there was no need for alarm at this stage and it was simply taking a sensible, precautionary approach.

“This is a heads-up; it’s about giving people the information they need to ensure they’re prepared early and thinking ahead.”

Mr Hansen says information on rainfall, river levels and flows can be found on the council’s website via: www.nrc.govt.nz/riversandrain

The website is automatically updated every two hours to provide the most up-to-date information.

A boil water notice has been issued for those on the Richmond water scheme. This notice has immediate effect and will remain in force until Monday 28 January when an update on the situation will be given.

The notice will affect all residential, commercial and service based properties on the scheme.

The notice has arisen because of a detected a low level of contamination in sampling of the source water for the Richmond water supply.

Whilst the source of contamination has now been isolated, the water from the Richmond water scheme has been compromised. It is therefore recommended that as a precaution, drinking water needs to be boiled. An update on the situation will be given on Monday 28th January, once sample results have been received from the laboratory.

Advice: What to Do

You are advised to boil all your drinking water for at least one minute for the following:

• Drinking water
• Food preparation
• Utensil washing
• Washing your teeth
• Pets
• Ice

Thank you for your co-operation.

For further information please call the Council on 03 543 8400.

Anyone wanting to make a submission on proposed changes to Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Onsite Effluent Treatment Plan has until next Wednesday, 30 January, to make their submission to the Regional Council.

Proposed Plan Change 2 is about how domestic wastewater can be suitably disposed of, and the effects of this on water quality.

"The proposed changes better reflect current knowledge about domestic wastewater discharge, and its impact on water quality in the Bay of Plenty," said General Manager Strategy, Fiona McTavish.

"The Council gathered community views and feedback on a draft plan earlier this year, and then amended the draft to develop Proposed Plan Change 2 (Maintenance Zones). The proposed plan change identifies the places around the Bay where water quality is becoming an issue, and proposes new rules and requirements for these areas," she said.

"Water quality is an important issue for our region, and we welcome submissions from all interested parties," said Ms McTavish.

For more information visit www.boprc.govt.nz/oset or call the Regional Council on 0800 884 880.

The Government is establishing a company to act as a bridging investor for regional water infrastructure development, Primary Industries Minister David Carter announced today.

In 2011 the Government signalled plans to invest up to $400 million in regional-scale schemes to encourage third-party capital investment. Cabinet has now directed that $80 million for the initial stages of the company’s operation be set aside in Budget 2013.

“The development of well-designed storage and irrigation infrastructure has the potential to deliver significant economic growth for our primary industries and support new jobs, which will have a flow-on effect for all New Zealanders,” says Mr Carter.

“New Zealand naturally has plenty of water – this is about managing the resource better for the economy and the environment.”

Mr Carter says that because the opportunity to take a stake in developing regional-scale water infrastructure is new for private investors, it is appropriate for the Government to take a bridging investment role to ensure the right projects can get underway.

“The Crown-owned company will be a minority investor in any development project, and it will also plan to be a relatively short-term investor.

“A number of groups are developing proposals for these larger, regional-level schemes, and the Government expects to consider at least one proposal in the next 12 months.

“Reliable irrigation represents a major step in unlocking economic potential for New Zealand, having our tradable sectors growing strongly and delivering on the Government’s economic growth goals.

“It will also be better for the environment, as these schemes will lead to more efficient water use, and can provide for the replenishment of aquifers and the restoration of stream and river flows,” Mr Carter says.

Related Documents

Irrigation Funding - Factsheet (pdf 18.8 KB)
Irrigation Funding Q&As (pdf 28.64 KB)

Council wishes to advise Renwick residents water restrictions have been lifted.

Recent rain and aquifer levels increasing enables the restrictions to be lifted.

Residents are asked to continue to conserve and use water wisely to avoid the necessity to reinstate the restrictions.

Council wishes to thank the community for their adherence to these restrictions; this avoided low pressure problems during peak water demand in the last few weeks.

Capacity has released the Regional Standard for Water Services, a collaborative effort with the Hutt, Wellington, Upper Hutt, and Porirua city councils.

The regional standard consolidates engineering standards for stormwater, wastewater and water supply infrastructure in the four cities.

The standard is intended for use with new infrastructure in subdivisions and for replacements in existing areas.  It aims to ensure all work done on water networks complies with the Council’s objectives and performance criteria for the network.  It should be read in conjunction with the Council’s existing development codes.

Read the Regional Standard for Water Services

Work to remove silt from the south lagoon at the New Plymouth Water Treatment Plant began this week.

“Removing the silt, which builds up as a waste product of the water treatment process, is a yearly job. One year we clean out the north lagoon and the next the south lagoon,” says New Plymouth District Council Team Leader Civil Victoria McKay.

An excavator will be used to dig out and load the material into waiting trucks that will haul the sediment away for landfill disposal.

Work is expected to take eight weeks and some speed restrictions will be in place near the entrance to the plant on State Highway 3 to accommodate the truck movements.

Environment Canterbury has released the Canterbury Water Use Report (2011/12) which analyses the consented and actual amounts of fresh water used in Canterbury for the year ended June 30, 2012.

“Consented water users in Canterbury are well on the way to providing the data Environment Canterbury needs to better understand water use, and ultimately provide for better water management in the region,” says David Caygill, Environment Canterbury’s Commissioner with responsibility for water.

Water consent holders with takes of 20 litres per second and more were required to install a water measuring system by November 10, 2012 under the Government’s National Regulations on water measuring. Consent holders must also provide their water use data to their regional council in July of each year.

“Many consent holders are already providing their water usage information to Environment Canterbury – ahead of the requirements in the regulations – and are also using this information to better manage and make more efficient use of water on their properties.”

A key finding from the report is that 39% of allocated groundwater was used during the 2011/12 year compared with 52% in the previous year. For surface water 43.4% of the volume of allocated takes was used compared with 49.5% the previous year.

The amount of consented water used in the 2011/12 season was relatively low likely because of a wetter-than-usual season: during the main irrigation season from October 2011 to April 2012 soil moisture levels were often replenished by rainfall without the need for irrigation.

The report also provides information on water use by water management zone, including statistics on the proportion of wells and surface water takes with metering systems installed.

As at 30 June 2012, 58% of groundwater wells with takes of 20l/s and more throughout Canterbury had water meters installed and consent holders had provided data for the 2011/12 report, up from 43% in the previous water year.

“We are aware of many consent holders, however, who have missed the November 10 deadline to install a water measuring system, but who have made arrangements with service providers to have a system installed.

“Environment Canterbury started a compliance programme in November to remind consent holders of their obligations and ultimately we will ensure full compliance with the regulations.”

Ashburton zone – which has 1735 wells – had the highest proportion of metered wells at 59.5%. Selwyn-Waihora zone had the most wells at 2080 with 46.4% of these metered.

For surface water takes around 34% had measuring systems installed, compared with 24% in the previous year (for takes of 20 l/s and more).

In total the metered water takes represented 62.4% (1137 million cubic metres) of all allocated groundwater, and 20.5% (3213 million cubic metres) of all allocated surface water in Canterbury.

The 2011/12 report is based on data from 2140 water takes, up from 1509 water takes in the previous year’s report.

Council wishes to advise Renwick residents water restrictions have been lifted.

Recent rain and aquifer levels increasing enables the restrictions to be lifted.

Residents are asked to continue to conserve and use water wisely to avoid the necessity to reinstate the restrictions.

Council wishes to thank the community for their adherence to these restrictions, this avoided low pressure problems during peak water demand in the last few weeks.