Mangawhai and Kaiwaka resident already running out of water because of the dry spell have another problem to worry about- fireworks going off at holiday homes.
Residents at Mangawhai Heads said holidaymakers renting baches during summer stock up on fireworks and set them off mostly after 10pm every weekend in tinder dry conditions.
Most of the residents in Mangawhai and Kaiwaka need water tanks as the Kaipara District Council only reticulated to a small number of facilities, including campgrounds.
A drier summer had put pressure on their water supplies and, along with the influx in holidaymakers and new residential development, there was an even higher demand for water deliveries this year.
Desperate residents may have to wait until the end of January to replenish their tanks after the taps were turned off at their closest filling stations for almost 24 hours.
KDC said its Maungaturoto water scheme was near capacity, so was unable to offer a solution to Mangawhai carriers at this stage.
Otherwise there was one in Ruakaka which was run by the Whangarei District Council.
Mangawhai Lodge owner Jeannette Forde said without any meaningful rain for eight weeks, water carriers have been working at full capacity as the water scarcity has reached crisis point.
"Usually there's reasonable rain in the first two weeks of December but that didn't happen last December. We advise out guests to use water sparingly," she said.
Ms Forde said to make the situation worse, holidaymakers from out of Mangawhai staying in bachs have been setting off fireworks but luckily they haven't started any fires yet.
She said it has been an ongoing problem for the past three to four years.
"People are stockpiling fireworks and letting them off in summer. We have very narrow sections with a lot of tea trees and wind is another issue."
She wrote to the Kaipara District Council in late 2015 but said the problem did not go away.
Deputy principal rural fire officer for Whangarei and Kaipara, Mike Sullivan, said those lighting fireworks in a prohibited fire season were breaking the law and could be taken to task.
A prohibited fire season is currently in place in Whangarei and Kaipara.
"Fireworks are extremely dangerous because there's no control where they land. We've had three fires that started from fireworks in Whangarei so far this summer."
Kaiwaka fire chief John Bowmar said there could be a major problem if a fire started from firecrackers in either Mangawhai or Kaiwaka because very few places have reticulated water.
Fire engines, he said, could only carry 1800 litres of water that lasted only about 10 minutes during firefighting.
"Luckily fire appliances get dispatched from Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto for callouts from Mangawhai but dry conditions in any area makes it harder to put any fires out," he said.