Tauranga restriction having minor impact as some residents refuse to curb water use

Hunter Jamieson enjoying a splash in the Memorial Park public fountain. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Tauranga water restriction appears to be having a minor impact in its early days, despite some residents refusing to curb their water use.

A Tauranga City Council spokeswoman said water demand is down 12 per cent following the announcement of a full ban on sprinklers earlier this week.

The water demand in the city reached a summer peak of 56.7 million litres on Tuesday, prompting a water restriction to be put in place the next day.

Following the announcement, demand decreased to 49.9 million litres for the day, a drop of 12 per cent from the peak day.

However, water restrictions could look to get harsher, as MetService meteorologist James Millward said there is not expected to be much rainfall in the immediate future.

The city's rainfall is sitting at only 20 per cent of the average for this time of year, and the city only had 15.6 mm last month, he said.

Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty have been identified as one of the "stand out" hotspots in the country for January, with near to no rainfall on the horizon.

He said over the month of January, the Bay of Plenty has been sitting upwards of 2C hotter than normal.

A number of residents commenting on the Bay of Plenty Times Facebook page said water restrictions would not hold them back when it comes to usage.

Some locals complained that as they were charged for water, they did not feel it was fair to limit consumption.

One man said since he was forced to pay for water, he planned to continue to use as normal. If the water was free, he said he would happily reduce consumption.

Another commenter shared a similar view and said as she paid for the water that went on her lawn, she did not plan on curbing use at all.

"We pay, we water," she said.

Other commenters put their excessive water use down keeping cool in the sweltering heat.

A number of parents in the area said they continued to fill their kids' pools up, some even twice in a day.

Kelvin Hill, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council's utility manager, said water consumption had "rocketed" as of late.

Hill said there was no water restriction in place for the Western Bay as the area had a number of different water zones.

However, Hill said, there would be discussions around a potential sprinkler ban early next week if the dry weather and increased consumption continued.

"We just need to remind consumers not to waste water."

Local Adele De' Arth said, "all it takes is thinking twice before using water".

"We've been making an effort in my house, we don't want to see further restrictions put in place because people aren't careful."

As the hope for significant rainfall dwindled, some industries remained concerned.

Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty provincial president Darryl Jensen said if the hot, dry conditions did not break soon, there may be "hard calls to make".

The Pumicelands Rural Fire Authority said it had placed suspensions on a number of current open-air fire permits.

Tauranga City Council said it was still early days and the message on water restrictions was still getting out to the community but the initial response had been encouraging.

The council's waterline team was on the road to monitor water use and was working with the community to raise awareness of the restrictions.

To report a breach to water restrictions, please phone 07 577 7000.

Four day forecast:

Today ): Partly cloudy, chance of an afternoon shower, 26C down to 16C
Tomorrow: Fine. 25C in the day, cooling to 15C.
Monday: Fine, light winds. 25C, 16 in the evening.
Tuesday: Mainly fine with light winds and sea breezes, 27C down to 17C.