South's great big dry just rolls on

Records keep tumbling as drought tightens its grip on the top of the South Island. MONIQUE DEVEREUX reports.

From the top of the ridge above Ron and Diane Higgins' Brightwater farmhouse the parched Nelson landscape stretches for miles.

It has been five months since the last decent rainfall and the long-range forecast isn't offering any respite until April.

The conditions remind the Higgins of the 1972 drought - long, dry days without any rain between September and May. Just the other day Mrs Higgins went up to the ridge to photograph the brown paddocks.

The fire hazard index is pointing at extreme and has been for months. The drought affecting the top of the South Island is shaping up to be one of the worst ever. Figures released by Niwa put it as the third driest summer in that region in 140 years.

In the Marlborough district, a new record has been set. It has now become the most serious drought, in terms of ground moisture levels, ever recorded.

Rainfall in the past four months has been the lowest in 100 years. The Fire Service's drought code, based on moisture levels that indicate the likelihood of fire in some fuels such as large logs, has hit 1037 points. A reading of 200 is high, 300 is an extreme fire risk, and in summer it usually ranges between 400 and 700.

"Conditions were bad enough in late December, when we had those huge fires," said Blenheim Mayor Gerald Hope.

"It's staggering to think that the district is now nearly twice that dry."

Not only is the top of the South Island facing the prospect of fires but water restrictions are also in place.

The Tasman District Council has imposed a ban on garden watering, except hand-held hoses on vegetable gardens, for the first time in at least 10 years.

In the Nelson City Council the first stage of sprinkler restrictions has taken effect and public walkways in the foothills have been closed because of fire danger.

According to Niwa, Nelson also had a record high of 878 sunshine hours for the season, 20 per cent above normal and a new high for any New Zealand locality since such records began in 1930.

To keep water flowing into Picton and Waikawa the Marlborough District Council has added extensions to the pumps at the water wells, so they can be lowered further into the aquifer.

Concerned over dying trees on the Blenheim roadside, the council has asked locals to pour a bucket of water over parched specimens every few days.

Mr Higgins, who farms near Nelson, is not too concerned yet. He is the fourth generation of his family to run the property, which is deliberately understocked.

But the drought will have rolling repercussions on farming.

Without green feed for the sheep, the ewes are less likely to produce twins. Stock numbers will be down next year.

He says the sheep don't mind the dry, brown grass, "but they need their greens to prevent dehydration.

"It would be like eating Weetbix all the time. You'll survive, but eventually you need something with a bit more moisture."

About 10km away at Colin Hall's apple orchard the rarely used back-up irrigation pond is nearing empty.

The 3 million litres pond has been pumped almost dry.

His Braeburns and Royal Galas are not yet feeling the pinch, but "if there's no bloody rain soon, we'll start to worry."

The orchard, like most around the area, is surviving only because of the irrigation.

But even water for that is starting to get harder to come by.

The river level is very low and Mr Hall says pumping the allocated limit is only just possible.

"It's all very well being told how much water you can have, but it's no good if there isn't even that amount of water to go round."