Waikanae River Flow Critically Low, Conserve Water Says Councillor

Kapiti Coast District Council remains silent despite a looming water shortage crisis says Districtwide Councillor Jackie Elliott, who was alerted to the Waikanae river flow shortage by concerned council staff.

We remain the only district in the region without water restrictions while the Waikanae river flow has depleted to 1061 litres per second as of yesterday. Says Cr Elliott. " Councils and farmers were warned late last year this would be a dry El Niño summer and the forecast for weeks ahead shows no reprieve."

A shallow river flow decreases more rapidly than a normal flow, and should the level drop below 750 litres per second which is predicted to happen within three days, Council staff will be unable to draw off the river as it has done all summer.

Yet KCDC management have not issued one public water use restriction measure. "It appears income from water meters is more important than conserving water for the sake of the health of our waterway. So as a Councillor, I implore you, to conserve our precious water please,

"He Taonga Te Wai," says Cr Elliott.

The recharge scheme is designed to top up the river, but only has consent, with strict conditions, to supplement the river flow with aquifer water at up to 20% percent of the total flow, meaning we could hover on the fine line of breaching consent for the foreseeable future.

"This would leave Council no option but to resort to supplementing the Paraparaumu, Waikanae and Raumati water supply with bore water, an option that has drawn much criticism in the past. " says Cr Elliott.

ENDS

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