Aucklanders encouraged to reduce outdoor water use as dry weather persists

We are encouraging all Aucklanders to be mindful of their outdoor water use as forecasts suggest the dry weather is likely to continue.

Auckland is currently in the ‘preparing for drought’ level in our Drought Management Plan after dam levels dropped below a trigger point earlier this month.

Chief operations officer Mark Bourne says the company has since received new weather forecasts that indicate April may turn out to be drier than earlier anticipated.

“We’ve updated our modelling to assess the potential impact of the ongoing dry weather on Auckland’s water supply.

“In doing this, we created a ‘worst-case scenario’ which shows if the dry weather was to continue into May, and water usage stayed at current levels, we could hit the trigger level for stage one restrictions in late May.

“Current forecasts are actually predicting May will be wetter than normal, which would be fantastic, but we know these forecasts can change, and we’re planning accordingly.”

Auckland councillor Richard Hills, chair of the policy and planning committee, says Watercare has updated the council on its latest modelling.

“We’re pleased with how Watercare is managing our water sources, water conservation messaging, the significant work on leak detection and response time to breaks. They’ll keep us updated, and will give us plenty of notice if restrictions are needed at any point.

“The important thing for Aucklanders to remember during these extremely dry months is that we can all help by going easy with our water use. Every bit counts.”

Photo: Waitākere Dam on 13 March.

We will step up our public awareness campaign encouraging all Aucklanders to be mindful of their water use, particularly outdoors.

Bourne says: “Given the dry weather we’ve been experiencing, Auckland’s water use is higher than it normally would be at this time of year, which is most likely due to people watering their gardens.

“We’re not asking people to stop watering their gardens – we just want everyone to be more mindful of their water use, particularly outdoors. Most gardens don’t need to be watered every day.

“We also encourage people to use a trigger nozzle attachment on their hose to prevent any water wastage.”

Auckland’s seven-day rolling average water demand is currently 483 million litres a day.

“Normally we’d have more frequent rainfall to dampen demand at this time of year, so without that, we’re seeing the long tail of summer reflected in Auckland’s water use,” Bourne says.

“We want to see water usage come down so we can preserve the water stored in our dams as much as possible.

“Even if you don’t water your garden, you can still do your bit by keeping your showers short. If all 1.7 million Aucklanders cut their shower time by just one minute, we’d collectively save about 20 million litres a day.”

Photo: Lower Huia Dam on 13 March.

NIWA’s Drought Index currently has Auckland in the ‘extremely dry’ range.

“Given how dry the soil is, it will take more than a smattering of rain before we’ll see our dam levels heading in the right direction again,” Bourne says. “That’s because the first lot of decent rainfall will likely be absorbed by the thirsty soil.

“What we’re hoping for is sustained rainfall to put our dam levels in a more comfortable position.”

We are continuing to produce more water at its two Waikato water treatment plants to preserve the water stored in the dams.

“Our two Waikato plants are currently producing about 185 million litres of water a day. That’s enough to meet around 38 per cent of the city’s demand.

“We’re also actively addressing leaks in our network, with 19,011 out of 19,051 reported leaks fixed since December.”

We will be contacting commercial customers – particularly those with irrigation meters – to ask them to cut back on watering wherever possible.