Total watering ban across Wairarapa is the first in 10 years

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

For the first time in over a decade, Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa district councils have placed a total ban on outside watering.

The Waingawa River which feeds Masterton's water supply has dipped below 1100 litres per second, with council urging residents to leave their watering taps turned off at all times.

Martinborough's restrictions started on Monday as the town has had to make do with a supply from just one of its four bores.

Water restrictions in the other South Wairarapa towns of Featherston and Greytown were in force from Tuesday as streams supplying those towns dipped below allowable levels.

The Waingawa River as seen from the bridge on SH2.

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Dame Margaret Bazley chairs the Wairarapa Water Resilience committee.

Carterton District Council instituted a total watering ban on Tuesday because of low flows in the Kaipatangata Stream.

The council has now switched to supplying the town from a bore in town, but does not have enough volume to allow watering.

Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson said it has been at least a decade since her town had been under a total ban.

The Waingawa River south of Masterton has dropped to very low levels.

'We're asking our residents to please take heed. Our community has previously been really good when we've had hosing restrictions.'

Though the dry period was driving the water shortages, the situation has been exacerbated by lowered consent limits on how much they can take from the Waingawa river.

'We supported that because we have to protect the health of the river,' Patterson said.

South Wairarapa Mayor Alex Beijen said he realised this would hit both public and private gardens hard but it was necessary so that people had access to clear drinking water.

Martinborough's water supply is limping along on one bore and users risked getting discoloured water running out of their taps if they needed to use one of the other bores.

The sudden ban on watering across all three Wairarapa districts perfectly illustrated why more water storage was needed, advocates said.

Wairarapa has recently received a $7 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund to develop plans for water storage and distribution infrastructure at the Wakamoekau site west of Masterton.

A further $110,000 was provided to the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency Ltd led to develop and produce a Wairarapa Water Resilience Strategy.

Dame Margaret Bazley chairs the Wairarapa Water Resilience Committee and said the grant was the 'huge breakthrough' which would help bring awareness to the region's precarious water situation.

'I think we need to look to ways in the future as to how we conserve every little drop.'

Bazley, who also chairs the Wairarapa Economic Development Strategy Governance Group, said the development of a water-storage facility could play a key role in alleviating the region's water woes.

'I think that water resilience here and water storage here will ultimately give this region a pathway to a better economic state and better quality of life.'