Napier Mayor Column: Kirsten Wise talks the importance of water in the lead up to summer

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said the working group goes "only some way" to addressing critical issues raised by Hawke's Bay. Photo / NZME

COLUMN

We recently put in place Level 2 water restrictions. This isn’t unusual in the run-up to summer, but this year we have had to introduce them about six weeks earlier than we would normally.

There’s a lot of myth and conjecture about water restrictions, and I know it can be frustrating for many. Some are frustrated because they can’t use water in the way they want to, and some are frustrated by following the rules while watching their neighbours break them.

We are fortunate in Hawke’s Bay with our aquifers. One of the assumptions is that they can provide us with endless water for eternity. With droughts or dry winters, this isn’t the case.

We do need to shift our thinking to ensure we treat water like a valuable resource, something we are lucky to have but must look after and not throw away.

The issue we have is the system that moves water from deep underground, through treatment into pipes and then into our household taps. The pumps that keep the process going do reach a point where they can’t work any harder. At that point, we lose pressure and things like the reserves needed for firefighting are compromised.

Two days before we put the Level 2 restriction in place we had the highest water use on record. On Saturday November 9, Napier used what equates to 637 litres per person, over those 24 hours.

We are normally among the top users of water in the country. Level 2 restrictions are triggered once we’ve used an average of 30,000 cubic metres per day for a week.

It equates to about 400 litres per person per day. To use so much more on the first warm day of summer is staggering, especially as true summer is still weeks away.

We need to change our approach to water. We need to stop imagining we can use all the water we want until someone (council) pulls the hand brake and makes us stop. We need instead to think about managing our water demand, carefully, cleverly and consistently.

It’s a rethink that applies across the board. Households can make lots of small changes to manage their water use better; businesses and organisations (including ours) can make big changes that will have a vital impact on this precious resource.

Water is on everyone’s lips at the moment, from Local Water Done Well to water restrictions. It deserves to be something we talk about, care about and grow our knowledge about.

See what you can do at home to manage your use of water as best as you can and I’ll make sure we stay on top of how we protect it for the future of our region.