Napier City Council has denied it was "caught off guard" by Monday's water shortage, but has promised to take learnings from the incident on board.
It discovered on Monday morning that reservoir water levels were around 19 per cent. During the peak of summer these sit at around 50 per cent at the lowest point.
The critically low level was thought to have occurred as the reservoir did not recharge overnight as usual - leading to the assumption hoses, and sprinklers had been left on overnight.
In light of Napier's water crisis does the city need a residential water tax?
![Trevor Williams (Napier)](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/XBKWWIQYTUCSOZYUEZ5NP4G7XU.jpg?auth=85437eaff4ede79db1e9b155c04f3fb985f1ea79137d6572f04516d95d47e070&width=16&height=27&quality=70&smart=true)