Northland's small coastal catchments may become the next victims of the region's unrelenting drought as the Northland Regional Council prepares to issue water shortage directions in 23 communities.
Water and waste manager Ali McHugh warned that the regional council is likely to restrict water to essential use only – meaning reasonable household domestic and stock welfare needs – in these coastal areas "in the very near future".
"More than two dozen aquifers are nearing, or quickly heading towards, their lowest groundwater levels on record and this could cause problems for many of our small coastal communities," she said.
"For those drawing water from bores in these areas, this means if they have not already, they may soon begin experiencing issues such as water becoming noticeably salty and other bore behaviour they have not encountered before."
READ MORE:
• The big dry: Drought in Northland and extreme fire danger in Dunedin
• Government declares drought in Northland and parts of Auckland
• Northland farming leader calls on Govt to declare a drought
• Premium - Dry weather in Northland has increasing impact on industries and wildlife
Small, shallow coastal groundwater systems will likely drop to significantly lower levels than would normally be seen during the next two to three months, bringing the real risk of saltwater intrusion into freshwater systems.
"There is a real risk that there will be water that's unsuitable for drinking – or even no water at all – as shallow bores become unable to pump water and deeper bores are impacted by saltwater moving inland."
