MEDIA STATEMENT

Water Shortage Direction renewed for Opihi River and tributaries

A second Water Shortage Direction for the Opihi River and its tributaries – which includes the Opuha River and Lake Opuha – will come into force from Tuesday December 16 for a term of 14 days.

It follows the original Direction which came into force on December 1 because of the declining level of water storage in Lake Opuha.

The Direction requires all water consent holders linked to the Opuha Dam to reduce their takes to 50 per cent of their consent volume.

The direction also allows Opuha Water Limited – the company that operates Lake Opuha – to reduce the minimum flow in the Opihi River to 3.5 cubic metres per second (the normal minimum flow for December is six cubic metres per second).

Environment Canterbury has authority under Section 329 of the Resource Management Act 1991 to notify the Water Shortage Direction.

South Canterbury update

Rain over the weekend has lifted the flow in most South Canterbury rivers. The exception is the Waiho River which is flowing at around one-quarter of its December median flow.

Mackenzie District Council has imposed water restrictions on residents in Fairlie who are being asked to water gardens for two hours or less per day. Timaru District Council has set level two restrictions for most areas which allows residents to water gardens using a single hose for two hours or less each day.

For more information:

Environment Canterbury media phone 027 221-5259

www.ecan.govt.nz – search for river flow or irrigation restrictions

http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/monitoring/irrigation-restrictions/Pages/irrigation-restriction-table.aspx

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