Save water or face cuts, Kaitaia residents told

Residents of Kaitaia in the Far North have been told they could have their water turned off if they do not step up their conservation efforts.

The worst drought in 40 years has pushed the water supply to dangerously low levels and the town now had only two weeks' left, David Penny of the Far North District Council said.

He said people were using more than 320 litres of water a day. Council wanted that cut dramatically to about 150 litres a day, to double the time the town had left before it ran out of water.

"It is a drought we haven't seen for the best part of 40 years. It is getting extreme."

Mr Penny said the pressure had been reduced in the water system but that would not affect firefighting.

Shutting down the water supply would be an extreme measure but it was one option, he said.

Residents had been told for the last five weeks to conserve water but that had had little impact.

He said people on the Kaitaia town supply were using twice as much water as their "country neighbours" on tanks.

"We are currently running between 320 and 350 (litres per person a day) within the town system.

"Over the last month we haven't seen an appreciable response from the community to our calls for conservation.

"We want folks to look seriously at water usage in the home.

"If you really want to be draconian there would be rolling water cuts throughout the town but that's not the way we want to be and if we can all conserve a little more we should get through this period," Mr Penny said.

He said other options, including bringing water by truck into the town, were expensive and not easy.

Restrictions at Kaitaia and the Opononi and Omapere areas include a ban on all garden hoses and irrigation systems, including hand-held hoses.

No let up in the drought was expected until late this month or early April.

- NZPA