Water restrictions have been lifted in Whangarei this morning but the council is continuing to urge locals to conserve water otherwise restrictions may return.
“Rain in the past month has lifted the water level to 74% at Whau Valley Dam and to 67% at Wilson’s dam. That puts us in a much better place than where we were but levels are still a little lower than we want for this time of year,” says WDC water services manager Andrew Venmore.
The restrictions were lifted at 8 am today and will allow water users to carry out some previously banned activities.
“From Saturday, hoses, sprinklers, irrigation systems, stand pipes and all other uses, both commercial and domestic, that were banned during the level two and level three restrictions will be permitted."
There remains a need for caution, however, Venmore says.
“But I do remind people that this continues to be the driest 18-24 month period in recorded history in our district.
“There is a very real possibility that we may have to reintroduce restrictions at some stage but, given the current situation and the hardship businesses have been through and the sacrifices people have made, lifting the restrictions now is the right thing to do.
“Our messages to the community are firstly, thank you for doing what you have done to get us to this point. Second, remember that every drop we save counts, and thirdly, we still need to fill the dam and that remains our focus going forward.”