Source: Auckland Council

Ongoing dry weather has tipped Auckland’s total dam storage level just below the ‘preparing for a drought’ level in Watercare’s Drought Management Plan.

Auckland’s total dam storage today is 66.5 per cent, compared to the historical average of 78.4 per cent for this time of year.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says: “Watercare has notified my office and Auckland councillors that the total storage in Auckland’s drinking water supply dams has just dropped into the ‘preparing for a drought’ zone in its Drought Management Plan.

“Watercare is responsible for ensuring the situation is managed. In line with the plan, they’ve provided an update on what they’re doing and how they’re dealing with the situation. I’m satisfied Watercare has it under control and is taking any appropriate action.”

Over summer the Hūnua dam catchments, which traditionally supply up to two thirds of Auckland’s water, received 27 per cent less rainfall than normal. The Waitākere catchments, where Watercare’s smaller dams are located, received less than half the normal rain.

Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne says Aucklanders do not need to be alarmed.

“We’ve been keeping a close eye on dam levels, Auckland’s water demand and the weather and have been actively managing our supply network to put us in the best position to face an extended dry spell.

“While our total dam storage has dropped below where we’d normally like it to be at this time of year, it’s still looking highly unlikely that we’d need to look at mandatory water restrictions in the next few months.

“The most recent weather forecast we’ve received signals March could be fairly dry, but rainfall is likely to return to normal for the rest of autumn. Winter has the potential to be wetter than normal.

“That said, we’re encouraging Aucklanders to continue to be mindful of their water use. They’ve been doing a fantastic job over summer, so we’re really just asking everyone to keep up the great work.

“If you need to water your garden, use a trigger nozzle on your hose to prevent any wastage.

“Another really easy way to keep your water usage down is to take short showers – four minutes or less is ideal. And if you need to take two on these scorching days, challenge yourself to make them two minutes each.

“If we all do something small to keep our water use down, we can further reduce the likelihood of needing water restrictions if the weather turns out to be drier than forecast.”

Auckland’s water consumption crept up last week, with the seven-day average rolling demand at 496 million litres per day today.

“To put that in perspective, when we were in the middle of drought in late summer 2020, water consumption peaked at 549 million litres per day,” Bourne says. “It’s great to see we’re still a long way off that, which to me shows many Aucklanders have maintained those basic water-saving habits we adopted back then.”

What does ‘preparing for a drought’ mean?

Bourne says a cross-functional team has been formed at Watercare to manage the three main “levers” of drought management: Increasing supply, reducing demand and optimising the water network.

“We’re continuing to produce more water at our Waikato water treatment plants, which treat water from the Waikato River. This slows the rate of decline of our dams.

“And right across Tāmaki Makaurau, our maintenance crews are doing a fantastic job at staying on top of leaks. Since the start of summer, 16,208 have been reported and 16,112 have been fixed, leaving a to-do list of just 96.

“As well as fixing reported leaks, we also run proactive leak detection in targeted areas around the city, which helps us to find leaks that may not be visible on the surface.

Anyone can see Auckland’s dam levels live on the Watercare website.

Top tips for going easy with your water use: 

• Cool off the kids with water pistols, reusable water balloons or even a small paddling pool, instead of under the sprinkler.  

MIL OSI