Wellington avoids tougher water restrictions, for now

Thursday, 15 February 2024

Level 3 water restrictions would essentially mean a hose ban for Wellington residents.

Efforts to save water have paid off, with Wellington Water announcing Wellington has avoided tighter water restrictions for at least another week.

While Wellington remains at Level 2, Wellington Water says efforts to save water must continue.

The likelihood of moving to Level 3 restrictions before the end of summer has fallen from 60% to 43%, and the chance of moving to Level 4 from 23% to 17%. As the end of summer nears, the overall risk of moving to tighter water restrictions decreases.

Director of regulatory services Charles Barker warns people not to be complacent.

“We have already started dipping into the storage lakes for the Wellington Metropolitan region and will soon be transitioning over to the lakes as a main source of supply. This means that if it’s hot and dry and we don’t get sustained rainfall, and we continue to draw down on the water stored in the lakes, they won’t have a chance to refill.”

Wellington Water currently has 3377 confirmed leaks and and a further 803 leaks waiting to be verified. Wellington City is the leakiest city with 1759. In January Wellington Water fixed 681 leaks, 246 of which were in Wellington City.

On its website Wellington Water acknowledge the dissatisfaction with leaks.

“We understand it’s frustrating having water restrictions in place given the situation with leaks in the region. We’re doing our best to get on top of water leaks – in the meantime water restrictions help conserve our water supply over the summer months.“

Barker said Wellington Water was taking the need to fix leaks seriously and the issue should not get in the way of the need to save water.

“We’re committed to staying focused on the leaks, and if people keep an eye on their water use, together we’re giving ourselves the best chance at getting through a tricky summer.”

Wellington Water said it was grateful for the efforts made to save water.

Over 3000 leaks in Wellington have residents fuming, with some reporting months of waiting before they’re remedied.

“We want to say a huge thank you for all their efforts. The fact that we’ve gotten through the highest risk period this summer and stayed at Level 2 is positive.”

Businesses would be able to continue to operate as normal, but were advised to “be pragmatic and responsible when watering”, according to Wellington Water’s website.

Before Christmas, Wellington was warned it would be in for an unusually hot and dry summer.

Unlike the deluges at the start of 2023, there is no sign of any rain on the horizon for the next two weeks, according to NIWA.

Meteorologist Tristan Meyers said that aside from the chance of the odd shower or two this week and maybe the chance of more showers early next week, it won’t be enough to alleviate the rainfall deficiencies seen.

“Really, we're in a worse position now than any time over the last four years.

“If you look at the rolling 90 days of rainfall to this point, from springtime to now, we can understand why Wellington water is thinking about these restrictions.”

Last month, Wellington Water estimated there was a one-in-three chance of the toughest restrictions - a ban on all outdoor water use and the need to cut indoor water use by up to half - happening, most likely in early February.

Meyers said the contributing factors from Wellington’s weather had been months in development.

“Water storage was already low because we had such a dry spring and even winter was very calm and dry.”