The answer to Kaitaia residents' water woes could be under their feet. The worst drought in at least 40 years has seen the Awanui River drop so low the Far North District Council needs special permission - issued week by week - to keep taking water for the town's supply. Garden hoses,pool top-ups, commercial car washes and other high-use activities are banned, and all water users must cut consumption by 20 per cent. Infrastructure manager David Penny said the council was investigating tapping into the Sweetwater aquifer, a natural underground reservoir that extended from southwest of Kaitaia to north of Awanui. It was already widely used for horticulture and was becoming steadily better mapped and understood as planting expanded and more users started drawing water. But even if the study currently under way found tapping into Sweetwater was viable and all the resource consents were issued, it would be too late to solve the town's current water shortage. Mr Penny estimated it would take a few years and "significant" cost, as it would involve several kilometres of pipeline and multiple bores to avoid depleting the aquifer in any one area. Earlier the district council was criticised by the Northland Regional Council for allowing Kaitaia's water supply to become so dependent on the Awanui River. Mr Penny said it was easy to be wise in hindsight, and studies in 1982, 1995 and 2005 had all looked into the possibility of tapping into the aquifer. All three studies found the current system was adequate for the foreseeable future and the cost of tapping into Sweetwater was not justified. In some areas the aquifer was heavily contaminated with iron, but in others it was drinkable - making its name "pretty true to form". Elsewhere in the Far North, compulsory water restrictions still apply in Omapere, Opononi and Rawene. Kawakawa and Moerewa residents were also being asked to cut water use by 20 per cent, but there were no concerns for water supplies in Paihia, Opua, Russell, Okaihau or Kerikeri. Mr Penny praised the efforts of Kaitaia residents who had now cut water use by a third, even more than the 20 per cent requested.
