Why Napier and Hawke’s Bay have water restrictions, despite near-record wet year

Russell Bond, Napier City Council's executive director of infrastructure, says water restrictions will always be in place and it will take a “significant mindset and behaviour change” for the public to see them as a necessity rather than a nuisance. Photo / NZME

Those in charge of Napier’s water say residents need to rethink their approach to how they use it all year round, as restrictions bite at the end of one of the city’s wettest years on record. And while the Three Water repeals early next year don’t directly affect water restrictions, Hastings District Council is warning the repeals in their current form could lead to budget challenges when water system upgrades are needed. James Pocock reports.

It’s one of Napier’s wettest years on record, yet it will end with the city in water restrictions for the foreseeable future.

Napier put water restrictions in place late last week, while restrictions in Hastings and Waimārama were brought forward to Monday from Wednesday this week after increased water use because of hot weather over the weekend.

Head-scratcher? Perhaps, but not many in the region will be surprised. This happens every year.

One thing people might be surprised to learn is that Napier uses more water per head than most cities in New Zealand.

A massive change in the way it behaves with its water use over the year appears to be the only way to prevent restrictions from happening around this time.

Russell Bond, Napier City Council executive director of infrastructure, said they were confident the city had enough water, but considerations needed to be put in place in case of drought or a fire emergency.

As of December 1, Napier was 36mm off its record for the highest recorded rainfall over a year with 1313.8mm that had fallen so far.

However, it was only a last-minute burst of rain in September that forestalled potential drought conditions for the month, before a wetter-than-average October and November kept lawns and plants growing fast.

Hawke’s Bay regional councillor Jock Mackintosh warned the public in August El Nino was coming and Hawke’s Bay’s next drought could be its worst.

Bond said in a statement summer water restrictions would always be in place no matter what because a “significant mindset and behaviour change” was needed.

“Our attitude to water use in Napier means we are one of the areas with the highest water use in the country,” Bond said.

“We need to rethink our approach, whether it’s at home, in the garden, in our industries and businesses, so we consistently use less water across the whole year.”

The impact of Three Waters repeals

The Government has confirmed it will begin repealing the Three Waters scheme implemented by the previous Government early next year.

Both NCC and HDC said the water restrictions were not related to the upcoming repeal, and HDC chief executive Nigel Bickle said in a statement the water restrictions were “business as usual”.

“The restrictions are about conserving water at a time of peak use, and to comply with our resource consent. High usage can over time also reduce treated water storage volume.”

Council was working on the assumption Three Waters would come back into the budget of their Long-Term Plan 2024 to 2034, which would create challenges, he said.

“Given the wider effects of cyclone recovery investment, growth demands for further infrastructure, along with inflation and higher interest rates, council’s financial status will be impacted if Three Waters was returned to council’s balance sheet.

“This would see us faced with challenging decision-making around what services can be provided and what level of increase in rates for the community would be needed.”

He said some form of balance sheet separation that did not impact the council’s financial status appeared to be “the only viable way” to achieve the outcomes sought in the Three Waters space and the level of investment required across the country.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the council had the view that the status quo was not affordable and not an option.

They aimed to advance a Hawke’s Bay regional model with the new Government along with the other local councils.

Bond said the repeal would not affect water services operations in Napier because they had already been running processes in parallel with proposed reforms.

“A potential ‘Hawke’s Bay model’ was always carried as an option and this will continue. A lot of the changes that are needed, we have already been doing,” Bond said.

“We have a comprehensive and substantial work plan in place across three waters and we are active across the board in ensuring it gets done, we have kept up our programme throughout this time.”

Site of the Awatoto drinking water bore during drilling in 2021. Photo / Supplied

Two low-manganese water bores, one in Awatoto and one in Taradale, became operational last year and supply 6500 homes so that activation of high manganese bores, which sometimes produce discoloured water, was not required in the summer during peak water use.

An council spokeswoman said they were affected by some surface flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle, but not severely, and there had been considerably fewer service requests regarding discoloured water since they were established.

In the meantime, the Hastings District and Napier City councils will be reviewing their watering programmes for parks and gardens in the same way that residents are being asked to.

Tips for saving water inside the home

• Check for leaks and fix any leaking taps, pipes or cisterns.
• Use “eco” settings on dishwashers and washing machines if available and don’t run them unless they are full.
• Scrape dirty dishes rather than rinsing.
• Turn off taps while brushing teeth.
• Take shorter showers.
• Limit toilet flushing: if it’s yellow let it mellow.
• Store drinking water in the fridge instead of running the tap cold.

Tips for saving water outside the home

• Follow the water restrictions.
• Don’t water the concrete, use a directional sprinkler.
• Reuse “grey water” from the washing machine on lawns and gardens where possible.
• Use a bucket of water when washing the car, rather than the hose.
• Use a broom to clean paths rather than a hose.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz