Holiday Weekend Rain Does Little to Ease Drought

Holiday weekend rain will have little practical effect on the region’s ongoing drought, Northland Regional Council experts say.

Regional Council figures for the 24-hours from midnight on Easter Sunday show rain varied from nil or very little at places like Whangarei and the nearby Hikurangi Swamp, through to 33.5mm at Tara near Mangawhai.

The Kaitaia area received about 10-20mm over the same period, the Kerikeri area and the hills above Kaeo about 20mm and the Maungaturoto area 26mm.

However, the Regional Council says after several months of drought, many parts of Northland – especially in the Far North – still require steady rain of about 100 to 150mm over a two-week period to effectively break the drought’s clutches.

Dale Hansen, the Council’s Water Resources/Hydrology Programme Manager, says rivers in the Kaitaia, Hokianga and many east coast areas down as far as Whangarei remain at critical levels; the lowest they have been in several decades.

He says the impacts this is having on District Councils’ dwindling town water supplies and Northland’s farming community has been well-documented in recent weeks, with water restrictions either in place or planned in many areas and stock feed in very short supply.

“The entire region had well below average rainfall again last month; in general terms it was less than half of what we’d normally expect for March. Most parts of Northland have now had less-than-normal rain since late last year, particularly east coast areas.”

Mr Hansen says short-term forecasts indicate very little rain over the next week or so and the latest long-range forecasts show the effects of the drought may continue to be felt for some time.

“Forecasters from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research say the El Nino weather pattern which has been affecting Northland is weakening and that overall Northland could now expect close to normal rain over the next three months.”

However, he says the same forecasters are also saying that soil moisture levels and stream flows are likely to continue to remain below average in Northland even if normal rain does eventuate.

“This is because the drought has now lasted so long, it will take some time for the moisture level in soils to return to anything like normal and the same goes for groundwater levels and river flows.”

Mr Hansen says Northland really requires above average rain throughout winter and even into spring for the region’s water resources to properly recover from the drought and escape similar problems next summer.

“While steady rain of about 100 to 150mm over a two-week period would address things in the short-term, realistically, the effects of this drought are going to continue to be felt in one form or another for a number of months.”

A range of drought-related information can be viewed on the Regional Council’s website via: www.nrc.govt.nz/drought

ENDS

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