Northland storm: All water restrictions lifted and attention now on road repairs

The Paihia wastewater treatment plant has been temporarily repaired after debris and silt in the Waitangi river affected water intakes. Photo / Peter de Graaf

All water restrictions across Northland have been lifted but residents are being asked to keep saving the precious resource for a few more days to allow stocks of clean water to recover.

Last weekend's deluge put a number of water treatment plants temporarily out of action and some Northlanders are still experiencing muddy water in their taps.

Whangārei District Council chief executive Rob Forlong said all three of the district's water treatment plants were back in operation and reservoirs were filling up well.

As at 7am yesterday, the reservoir at Fairway Drive was at 53 per cent, Kamo 70 per cent, Onerahi 46 per cent, and Anzac Rd 47 per cent.

The Whau Valley Dam is at 100 per cent while Wilson Dam is sitting at 96 per cent.

"We still need to save water— at least 20 per cent compared to normal - so we're inviting the whole city to skip a load of washing and dress-down in their 'back of the closet' outfits tomorrow!"

Forlong said residents should keep saving water and once reservoir levels hit 80 per cent, it would be safe to ease back restrictions.

Seven roads around Whangārei remain closed due to slips, two due to flooding while another has an unsafe bridge.

One of the worse affected is Matapouri Rd, where there are 16 slips to clear in the section between Kaiatea Rd and Sandy Bay.

This work is expected to take around two weeks while a further 32 roads are still down to one lane and people are being urged to drive with caution.

"We will get there but we are working on the most urgent roads where residents have no access to their properties and will prioritise other roads."

In the Far North, up to 20 roads were closed on Sunday but that has been reduced to just four. SH11 to Opua was temporarily closed by a slip, and SH1 at Mangamuka still closed.

In Kaipara, Pukehuia Rd at Tangiteroria is still closed. Partially closed are Hoyle Rd, Wainue Rd, Central Rd, Valley Rd, Golden Stairs Rd, Campbell Rd, and Franklin Rd.