Irrigation bans are expected on three Hawke's Bay rivers as the region faces a possible drought in the wake of this week's heat wave and continuing hot weather.
The warning came yesterday from Hawke's Bay Regional Council resource management group manager Iain Maxwell, who said that with no foreseeable rain,
bans would be in place in a week.
Late yesterday, MetService's forecasts carried no hint of rain in the next 10 days in Hawke's Bay and East Coast areas north of the Takapau Plains, apart from some cloud on Monday and Tuesday.
Longer term, Niwa expects rainfall at below average.
Mr Maxwell says whether that translates into the first region-wide drought in almost five years remains to be seen. "It'd be like trying to give out the Lotto number," he said, "but we're going to need reasonable amounts of rain to increase the soil moisture and bring river levels back up."