Auckland water crisis: business restrictions eased despite declining dam levels

Auckland businesses are welcoming the relaxation of water restrictions, but the mayor warns that the city is not out of the woods yet and that dam levels continue to decline amid a dry spring.

Starting Monday, restrictions that went into effect in May prohibiting outdoor water use will be eased for commercial users.

Businesses will be allowed to use hoses with a trigger nozzle outdoors, commercial car washes and sports fields will resume, plants and paddocks can be watered with irrigation systems equipped with soil moisture or rain sensors .

Supercity Property Services director Murray Robertson said it was “good news.”

Property cleaning businesses like yours have had to use recycled water, which means hauling tanks around town for jobs, adding time and costs to businesses already suffering greatly from Covid-19.

“It was a double whammy,” Robertson said.

“Many companies have gone into hibernation and I am not sure how many will come out again. But it is a welcome relief for us, we are excited to do so again.”

Under restrictions and near-average winter rains, Auckland’s storage dams recovered from dangerously low levels, but are still a quarter below normal at 67%.

September and October have seen less than half the historical amount, and storage is starting to fall again.

What’s more, the dams in the Hunua Ranges, which supply 60 percent of Auckland’s water, are still at low levels, compared to the smaller dams in the Waitākere Ranges.

Mayor Phil Goff told the Herald that restrictions on these businesses were eased due to the “intense financial pressure” they were facing.

They also consumed relatively little water.

The Outdoor Cleaning Industry Association previously stated that they used only 0.07 percent of the city’s daily use, or less than half a percent of the 53 million liters per day the city loses due to network leaks.

The measure will benefit home cleaning companies, builders, maintenance contractors and plant nurseries.

However, the ban on washing cars, houses and watering the garden by residents, which took effect on May 16, will remain in place for now and will be revised in December. Residents use 70 percent of the city’s water.

The decision, taken by the councilors in September, was based on the need to maintain 5% water savings during the summer, the commissioning of new water sources, weather forecasts, the state of the city’s dams and the possible consequences if rain is not anticipated. participate in contests.

MetService and Niwa are forecasting an average dry spring rather than an earlier prediction of a drier spring and wetter weather in January and February with possible cyclones thanks to a possible La Niña, but have reported little confidence in the forecasts through long term. .

Auckland households and businesses have responded positively to savings requests, using an average of 40 million liters a day less than usual.

Watercare has also improved its capacity to treat another 25 MLD from the Waikato River and will have increased capacity by another 15 MLD by December.

It was also on track to add another 50 MLD from the Waikato River by July of next year.

Despite this, in December the Aucklanders would have been under restrictions for seven months, and the chances that they would continue into the next year are increasingly likely.

“It is not acceptable, but it is due to the drought conditions, which are worse than what we have experienced,” Goff said.

“We have been saving very well and a lot of work is being done to increase capacity, but the truth is that we have had another really dry September and October.”

While work to increase capacity should have started earlier, “no one predicted two years of drought,” Goff said.

“In any normal year we would have a surplus of water.

“It is not population growth that has caused this, it is an exceptional climate.”

Water restrictions in Auckland from October 12

• Commercial water users will be able to use a hand hose equipped with a trigger nozzle; use a regular hose for health, safety, emergency, and biosecurity reasons; operate a car wash service; water sports fields, plants and paddocks using irrigation systems equipped with soil moisture sensors or rain sensors.

• Residential users are still prohibited from using a hose outdoors, but they can water the garden with a watering can or clean their car with a bucket, for example. Residents are also urged to continue to reduce indoor water use by at least 20 liters per day, every day.

• Commercial users are asked to continue to reduce their indoor water use by at least 10 percent, compared to the same period last year.