Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Drought relief at last for Kaikohe

By Peter Jackson
Northland Age·
27 May, 2020 10:32 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Lake Ōmāpere has saved Kaikohe from the threat of running dry, but the water is not without its problems. Picture / Peter de Graaf

Lake Ōmāpere has saved Kaikohe from the threat of running dry, but the water is not without its problems. Picture / Peter de Graaf

Drought-stricken Kaikohe finally has a new back-up water supply, thanks to the government's Provincial Growth Fund and two iwi trusts.

The Northland District Health Board has signed-off new treatment measures for water from Lake Ōmāpere, to be taken under agreements the council has reached with the Lake Ōmāpere and Ōmāpere Taraire E Rangihamama X3A Ahuwhenua trusts.

Mayor John Carter the council, with the support of the PGF and the trusts, had spent the last two months developing infrastructure to allow the lake to be used as a back-up water supply. That had involved installing extensive, extra treatment infrastructure at the Taraire Hills water treatment plant to remove toxin-producing bacteria from the water.

In the past the lake had suffered from algal blooms that could produce harmful toxins.

Piping water to the treatment plant had been a relatively straightforward job, and was completed in March, but ensuring that the water met NZ Drinking Water Standards had been a far more complex problem to solve.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Our staff and our alliance partner, Far North Waters, have worked closely with the Northland District Health Board and water treatment consultants to modify the water treatment plant so we can be sure it will remove toxin-producing bacteria if an algal bloom reoccurs in the lake," he said.

"This was achieved by creating a large settlement reservoir that allows material that may harbour the toxin-producing bacteria to settle out and be removed from the system. The DHB agrees that this will ensure the safety of the supply, and it has now given us the green light to use water from the lake."

The council would only supply treated water from the lake if its existing sources failed, however.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We have successfully removed the danger of cyanobacteria-related toxins, but we cannot remove all of the unpleasant odour and taste of the lake water. While it is safe to drink, we will only use it in an emergency to avoid taps running dry," he said.

Meanwhile the town's primary water source, the Wairoro Stream, was still running below consented levels, but flows had stabilised and were expected to increase gradually as winter approached.

"Kaikohe residents and businesses have done a fantastic job of reducing their water consumption by 25 per cent and more since mid-February. I encourage people to continue to make these savings to avoid the need to use the lake as a water supply," Carter added.

He was grateful to the iwi trusts for making the lake available as a temporary water supply, however. He also thanked Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, for allocating $2 million from the PGF for temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia as part of the Government's response to the drought.

"The co-operation between the government, the council and the trusts, who are the kaitiaki of Lake Ōmāpere, has delivered a good outcome for the Kaikohe community," he said.

Up to $30 million had been provided through the PGF to investigate potential water storage sites in the Far North, Mid North and Kaipara. The council was also working with the Northland Regional Council and others in the development of reservoirs in the Kaikohe area. An initial site near Kaikohe has been identified, and, depending on post-Covid-19 timeframes, construction is expected to get under way next summer. Further sites will be explored as the project evolves.

The plan is to build a series of small-scale reservoirs with a distribution pipeline.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

'Overly rigid': Insulation rules changed to cut building costs in Far North

09 Jul 12:00 AM
Northland Age

'Pretty low': Burglary leaves trades students without tools

07 Jul 06:00 PM
Northland Age

Far North news in brief: Bottled water recall, writing competition for Year 13 students

07 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

'Overly rigid': Insulation rules changed to cut building costs in Far North

'Overly rigid': Insulation rules changed to cut building costs in Far North

09 Jul 12:00 AM

The Government plans to ease insulation rules in the Far North soon.

'Pretty low': Burglary leaves trades students without tools

'Pretty low': Burglary leaves trades students without tools

07 Jul 06:00 PM
Far North news in brief: Bottled water recall, writing competition for Year 13 students

Far North news in brief: Bottled water recall, writing competition for Year 13 students

07 Jul 05:00 PM
Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

07 Jul 02:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP