Hugely positive conservation response from Napier public

Friday 8 December 2017

A “hugely positive response” to water restrictions in place around Napier has already seen great recovery in reservoir water levels, says Napier City Council’s Director Infrastructure, Jon Kingsford.

NCC first moved to Level 4 restrictions on Monday, after reservoirs were drained by exceptionally high water use, likely to have been brought on by very warm weather. The response was immediate, with some reservoirs recovering to 80 or 90% of their potentail volume. By 4:15pm on Tuesday, NCC was able to throttle back the restriction to Level 2, which requires any outdoor watering to take place between 6 and 8am, and 7 and 9pm, on alternate days only.

“Our water monitoring system shows that Napier residents are heeding the call – we’ve gone from water usage of over 550 litres per person per day in the week to December 3rd, to just over 400 litres per person per day so far this week. That’s over 9 million litres a day in savings, which makes an extraordinary difference – we’re really grateful for that.”

A water conservation campaign, communicating a series of helpful tips for both indoor and outdoor water use, began on Monday 4 December and continues through until March 2018, in conjunction with Hastings District Council.

NCC’s Parks and Reserves team has also pared back its watering of public gardens, lawns, sportsgrounds and reserves. “We know we are part of the solution and our staff have all been briefed on doing their bit, both at home and at work, to help conserve water.”

All the Marine Parade fountains use recycled water with top-ups from town supply to mitigate the loss of water from evaporation. “We’re reducing the loss by evaporation by setting timers to have the fountains operating from 10am until 10pm, instead of their usual operating hours of 6am until midnight. Our staff will also be keeping an eye on wind and turning the fountains off on blustery days, to save water.”

McLean Park and Nelson Park are irrigated via sprinklers, although these are running on reduced hours.

However some additional essential watering is set to take place in coming days. Carols by Candlelight, an event to be held in the Botanical Gardens on Sunday 17 December, poses a fire risk if the lawns are not well watered. “Our team will be watering for a few days prior to ensure that we mitigate the risk as much as possible” says Mr Kingsford.

ENDS

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