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The Auckland Council Emergency Committee voted on Thursday to introduce mandatory water restrictions in response to the ongoing drought, which has resulted in significant water shortages at dams in the region.
Auckland companies that depend on water should think about contingency plans as the city moves to introduce stricter water restrictions, says Mayor Phil Goff.
Goff said the restrictions, announced Thursday, are being implemented to avoid the need for stricter measures in the future.
“Watercare is in talks with companies with high levels of water demand to work collaboratively with them on reducing water use, and I will raise some of these issues with my Business Advisory Panel on Monday,” he said.
“While we need to save water, we are aware that if we reach stage 3, the restrictions on water use would impact the productivity and income of the companies involved.”
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The Auckland Council announced on Thursday that it will introduce new mandatory Stage 1 water restrictions beginning May 16 in response to the ongoing drought.
They include a ban on the use of outdoor hoses for activities such as watering gardens and washing cars and the use of water pistols.
David White stuff.co.nz
The north of the North Island is in a prolonged drought.
Companies will face additional restrictions on commercial car washing, irrigation of sports fields, plants, and paddocks.
The impact on major industries in Stage 1 and Stage 2 is expected to be less, but according to a report to the council this week, several of them would be severely affected if we reached Stage 3.
According to Watercare, this would mean banning large industrial and commercial customers from using water at least one day per week.
Goff said the region’s storage dams have fallen to around 46.5 percent, well below the 76 percent average for this time of year.
“Auckland is experiencing its worst drought on record, with January to April this year the driest in our history,” he said.
Stephen Forbes / Things
Lion NZ has been working to reduce water use at its East Tamaki brewery as the Auckland Council prepares to introduce new water restrictions.
Lion NZ spokeswoman Sara Tucker said production at the company’s South Auckland brewery is still low due to the impact of the coronavirus on the country’s hotel sector.
However, it already has plans to deal with the water shortage, he said.
“In the past few months … we have worked hard to reduce our water use at The Pride, our largest manufacturing site in eastern Tamaki.
“To accomplish this, we stopped non-essential use, such as external washing of buildings and roofs, and made process changes, such as the cleaning process for our tanks.
“As a result, our water consumption during the first four months of this year has decreased by almost 30%. While production has recently decreased by approximately 20 percent due to the Covid-19 crisis, our water reduction is ahead of the slowdown in production, showing that the improvements are having an impact. “
