Local Focus: Step away from the sprinkler

Summer is officially here, and that means one thing for Tauranga residents - water restrictions.

While residents can still use a handheld hose with a trigger nozzle for one hour between 7pm and 10pm, sprinkler use at home is now banned until February under the council’s Water Watchers plan.

However, this year, there’s been a few tweaks to allow veggie gardens and planter boxes to have a better chance of surviving a long, hot summer.

“After last summer, we got some feedback from the community and reassessed how we were managing the Water Watchers plan,” water services manager Peter Bahrs said.

“We’ve made a discretion that they can use micro drip irrigation schemes again for one hour a day during the 7pm to 10pm hours.”

Even though the region has had a wet winter, Bahrs said the region’s water supply remains fragile after three consecutive dry summers from 2019 to 2021.

“This year’s been an exceptionally wet winter; we’re sitting at way above the average rainfall for this time of the year. But we’re experiencing this whole flux of climate change, and what we’re trying to do is establish a long-term way of valuing the water and ensuring it’s sustainable and lasts for everybody in a growing city like ourselves.”

But the opening of a new Waiāri water treatment plant will ease the growing pressure on the system in the long term.

“It’s designed to sustain the water needs of the city for the next 30 years. It’s not just about getting additional water in for this summer, this is about how we can manage the supply for the city in the long term,” Bahrs said.

Despite the new treatment plant opening soon, water restrictions will remain in place as part of the Water Watchers plan until 2026 to “encourage the wise use of drinking water”.