Emergency water tanks in Kaikohe during the 2019-20 drought. Photo / supplied
Emergency water tanks in Kaikohe during the 2019-20 drought. Photo / supplied
The Government is pumping $8 million into an iwi-led scheme to install up to 1000 water tanks at vulnerable Far North homes and community facilities to head off future droughts.
The initiative was announced at Mahimaru Marae, near Awanui, on Friday by Acting Emergency Management Minister Kris Faafoi.
It comesafter a series of almost annual droughts - Northland has had seven in 11 years - with summer 2019-20 particularly brutal for town supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia and families relying on inadequate rainwater tanks.
The water tank project will be administered by Te Rūnanga Nui ō Te Aupōuri, which will allocate the 10,000- and 20,000-litre tanks to families and facilities in greatest need in the Te Hiku area.
Acting Emergency Management Minister Kris Faafoi. Photo / file
Faafoi said the project was championed by Minister Kiri Allan, currently on leave while she undergoes cancer treatment.
"The impacts of climate change are not something that just our grandchildren will have to deal with – we are already seeing them,'' he said.
"Te Hiku residents have experienced some of the most severe and prolonged drought conditions on record, leading to severe water shortages, restrictions and rural residents having to rely on tanker deliveries for their drinking water.
"The region is expected to suffer more frequent and severe droughts, making it increasingly important that steps are taken now to increase the resilience of these communities to future droughts.''
Many homes in the Far North have woefully inadequate water tanks, especially as droughts become more frequent. Photo / supplied
Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi said changing weather patterns in Te Hiku o Te Ika ("the tail of the fish") meant the problem had to be addressed now.
"The effects on our whānau are devastating, particularly in rural areas where our marae and papakāinga become unusable with no or limited house supply,'' he said.
During a series of emergencies and evacuations over summer, marae and hapū ended up hosting large numbers of whānau and holidaymakers, putting even more pressure on tight water supplies, he said.
Drought conditions in Northland pasture in February 2020. Photo / John Stone
Funding for the Te Hiku water security project comes from the drought financial assistance package administered by the National Emergency Management Agency.
A number of other projects to improve water resilience are being spearheaded by the Tai Tokerau Water Resilience Group, which includes making a bid for a share of the $30m set aside by the Government's Three Waters review for communities not on reticulated supplies.
The Northland Regional Council is proposing to set aside $500,000 a year on a grant scheme to help people in greatest need pay for water tanks, gutters and spouting. That has yet to be approved.
Although aimed primarily at horticulture, Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust is building a series of storage dams in the Mid North and Kaipara, while Te Rarawa has built a storage dam north of Ahipara.
Spurred along by the 2019-20 crisis in which Kaikohe and Kaitaia came close to running out of water, the Far North District Council has drilled new bores in South Hokianga and Kaikohe and is close to completing a backup supply for Kaitaia.
The Covid pandemic has exacerbated water shortages in rural Northland because many people returned to family land after losing their jobs in the cities, increasing the number of people living in rural homes with already inadequate water infrastructure.
