Sprinkler ban as Wanganui dries up

By ANNE-MARIE EMERSON
A TOTAL sprinkler ban has been imposed in Wanganui, as the district dries out and demand for water exceeds supply.
On Monday the city consumed over 36 million litres of water three million litres more than the daily pumping capacity.
Wanganui District Council's chief executive, David Warburton, said current levels of water consumption were not sustainable.
"Unless savings measures are imposed now, the city's reservoir will have dropped to half in a little over a week.
"It is important levels are maintained near maximum because the risk of fire increases during dry spells."
Partial water restrictions, including an alternate day sprinkler plan, were introduced in December.
The full restrictions mean all unattended hoses, sprinklers and irrigation systems are banned.
Hand-held hoses and watering-cans are permitted. The ban applies to the entire Wanganui District Council area and includes private households, businesses, schools, parks, sports grounds and reserves.
Wanganui mayor Michael Laws said people had been flouting the partial water restrictions but now full restrictions were in place, the council would get tough on those who break them.
"We will get serious on this. If we find people breaking the ban we will impose infringement notices with financial penalties."
He said local schools in particular had not been observing the restrictions.
Mr Laws said while the full restrictions were largely precautionary, they were necessary.
"Another week of using water like this and we've got a serious problem. And we don't know how long this hot, dry weather will last."
Mr Laws said council staff were monitoring and repairing any significant leaks they came across.
"Normally, if council staff found a leak, they would notify the owner and tell them to fix it now they're fixing it straight away."
He could not confirm if people would be charged for this or not.
Mr Laws said he would ensure council staff and contractors were aware of the restrictions and complied with them.
"It's imperative on the council to set an example."
Mr Laws said it was the first time full water restrictions had been in place since 2003.
"That summer was very dry, but not as hot or as windy as this one has been."
In the first four weeks of January this year only 17.6mm of rain fell in Wanganui and 15mm of that fell on one day. The January average rainfall for Wanganui is 60mm.
The hot, dry conditions have also seen a fire ban introduced to the Wanganui district and the fire risk lifted to "extreme".
The ban was introduced at midnight on Saturday and prohibits fires from being lit in open areas.
All existing fire permits have been revoked.
South Taranaki also has full water restrictions and restricted fire conditions, while Rangitikei imposed a fire ban last night.