With the start of summer officially more than a month away, the Far North District Council announced on Friday that it was banning the use of sprinklers, irrigation devices and unattended hoses in Kaikohe.
The ban applied to all residences and businesses connected to the council's reticulated water supply as of Friday.
Restrictions were not imposed in Kaikohe last summer until January 30, while South Hokianga residents were asked to start conserving water on December 27. Council sources suggested last week that it would not be long before restrictions were imposed there too.
The Awanui River, which supplies Kaitaia, is still running quite strongly, but without significant rain over coming weeks it could drop quickly.
The council's general manager infrastructure and asset management, Andy Finch, said the Level 2 restrictions in Kaikohe had been forced by a warmer than average winter, compounded by very warm, dry conditions in June and July. Both the Northland Regional Council and Niwa had confirmed lower than normal levels of rainfall in recent months, the NRC warning some weeks ago that the Mid and Far North could be in for a dry summer.