Level 3 water restrictions: Napier usage soars to some of highest in country

The Napier City Council is starting bans on the use of garden sprinklers as water usage now among the highest in the country amid the new dry in Hawke’s Bay.

Water restrictions have been imposed in Napier, Hastings could be next. Photo / NZME.

The Level 3 Water Restrictions, earlier in the summer than most years, were imposed on Friday and mean a total ban on using sprinklers, and hand-held hoses can be used only on alternate days, and only 6am-8am and 7pm-9pm.

The council says Napier is using more water per person than most other places in New Zealand, and after a dry winter and weeks of warm weather, water use in the city is “out-stripping supply”.

The need to limit water use, especially over the next week, is exacerbated by issues with one of Napier’s water bores providing drinking water to the city, with a pump malfunctioning and new parts and repairs being awaited, council said.

Napier is using between 500 and 570 litres of water per person per day, which compares with closer to 400 litres per person per day abut the end of November last year.

The city was moving to Level 3 water restrictions immediately while Hastings remained at Level 2, despite figures that make November possibly the driest November on record in the area.

There have already been fire risk warnings in Hawke’s Bay, with significant vegetation fires in northern and central Hawke’s Bay.

According to daily weather recording published in Hawke’s Bay Today on Thursday, when a maximum temperature of 31.7C was recorded in Hastings (the highest temperature for the day throughout New Zealand), there had been only 6.9mm of rain in Hastings in November, with little more than a trace expected by Saturday night.

It was just over 10% of the November average for Hastings, calculated over the past 30 years, is 61mm.

The restrictions in Napier will remain in place “until all water sources are back online and daily water use comes down to acceptable levels to ensure the system can manage demand”, council said.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 41 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.