Auckland water shortage: Heavy rain bumps up water in dams, but more still needed

Heavy rain has helped to bump up water levels in Auckland's dams over the past few days - but it is still nowhere near the normal amount usually seen this time of the year.

Figures released to media by Watercare shows the dams are now 55.35 per cent full. Its website, however, says the total water storage has reached 55.44 per cent today.

Although it is good news for the city, the city's water supply is usually about 79.8 per cent full, on average, right now.

The water level has remained around the same since yesterday, when the dams were about 55.5 per cent full.

Good news from the dams - our total water storage has gone up ever so slightly, just a teeny-weeny bit to 55.44%. We had only 0.5mm of rainfall in the 24 hours to midnight, but, hey, it's better than nothing, right!#save20akl pic.twitter.com/zbqvItCyo5

— Watercare (@watercare_nz) July 1, 2020

Aucklanders still using too much water

It seems Aucklanders still have a lot to do to cut back on water usage, as a daily target of 410 million litres or less a day was not reached yesterday.

Yesterday's total water consumption in Auckland reached 415m litres.

The 7-day rolling average, as of yesterday, was about 400m litres.

Watercare continues to push the message for people to use less water when carrying out various tasks - including when taking a shower and brushing teeth.

The authority has been regularly posting funny memes alongside encouraging messages via its social media sites, including Twitter.

"Save 20 (litres), save 20, we say! 'How do I do that', you say? Well, here goes.

"Spend a minute less in the shower and you'll save 12L. Turn the tap off when you brush your teeth twice a day - save a total of 8L.

"That's 20L saved in one day - and repeat."

'Save 20, save 20' we say! 'How do I do that,' you say! Well, here goes. Spend a minute less in the shower and you'll save 12 litres. Turn the tap off when you brush your teeth twice a day, save a total of 8 litres. That's 20 litres saved in one day. And, repeat.#save20akl pic.twitter.com/eNs2IbXyTd

— Watercare (@watercare_nz) July 1, 2020

On Monday, Watercare released detailed information about Auckland's dams and water sources.

In the seven days up to Monday, June 29, a total of 55.4 per cent of the city's water source came from its dams.

Just over 38 per cent of water was sourced from the Waikato River and 5 per cent came from the Onehunga Aquifer.

Today's result comes after authorities reached an agreement in principle for Auckland to take more water from the Waikato River - an interim measure to help ease the region's drought crisis.

A meeting with all the major stakeholders was held yesterday - where that agreement was reached - but the bulk of the case is due to be heard by a board of inquiry.