Whangarei District Council will lift its water restrictions at 8am on Saturday 27 June 2020, but water users are urged to continue conserving water – otherwise restrictions may be back this summer.

“Rain in the past month has lifted the water level to 74% at Whau Valley Dam, and to 67% at Wilson’s dam. That puts us in a much better place than where we were, but levels are still a little lower than we want for this time of year,” said Water Services Manager Andrew Venmore.

"This is a significant milestone in our winter campaign to save water and fill the dam.

“From Saturday, hoses, sprinklers, irrigation systems, stand pipes and all other uses, both commercial and domestic, that were banned during the Level Two and Level Three restrictions will be permitted.

“But I do remind people that this continues to be the driest 18-24 month period in recorded history in our District.

“Over the next few months we will be supplying water from the dam, rather than the Hatea River, as we complete the large pipeline that will improve our river water take in future.

“That could see water levels in the dam drop, if we don’t continue to get the rain we have been seeing recently.

“It is also important to remember that while this rain might be filling the dams a bit and filling up people’s rainwater tanks, and maybe even boosting stream levels, we have a long way to go before aquifers will see any improvement. Over-all the region remains very dry and our move to lift restrictions does not mean we have recovered.

“In addition to the larger pipeline from the Hatea River and the new pipeline from the Wairua, we are continuing our long-term planning for additional water sources.”

Mr Venmore said that forecasts indicated the rest of the winter and spring were likely to be dry, so Council was closely monitoring water levels and forecasts.

“There is a very real possibility that we may have to reintroduce restrictions at some stage but, given the current situation and the hardship businesses have been through and the sacrifices people have made, lifting the restrictions now is the right thing to do.

“Our messages to the community are first, thank you for doing what you have done to get us to this point. Second, remember that every drop we save counts, and third, we still need to fill the dam and that remains our focus going forward.”

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