Drought town blames council for problems

Ian Walker beside the Awanui River which supplies most of Kaitaia's water. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Critical water supply problems in Kaitaia are the result of the failure of the Far North District Council to invest in infrastructure, a local politician believes.

And he's been backed by others who say the council was warned in December to plan for water shortages.

But the council says infrastructure has nothing to do with battling the worst drought the region has seen since 1982 and could see the town run dry in two weeks.

Kaitaia retailer and dairy farmer Ian Walker is the deputy chairman of the Northland Regional Council.

He is scathing of the district council's maintenance programme and infrastructure management and said the Sweetwater aquifer near the town has remained unplumbed despite it being a viable water source.

"The water restriction in the town is self-inflicted by the council. It did not need to happen. We've known about this aquifer for years but done nothing about it. There's plenty of water but we can't get to it - that's sheer incompetence."

The district council had spent $4.1 million on capital investment in the past three years, spokeswoman Alison Lees said. It would be applying for resource consent to use the aquifer but infrastructure wasn't the problem at present.

"The Far North is enduring a drought. The weather conditions are exceptional. Councils cannot put in place the necessary infrastructure to cater for exceptional events of nature. The expense is huge and they may never be used because the event may never happen."

That doesn't cut it with regional council chairman Mark Farnsworth, who said the district council "had a number of opportunities to plan for the situation it now found itself in and was merely trying to deflect attention from the fact it had not done so".

From November to January the town has received less than a third of its annual rainfall. Last month the figure was just 27 per cent.

One of its main water sources, the Awanui River, has flows below the permitted level at which the council is normally allowed to draw.

At the point where the district council pumps the water to be treated, the river looks more like a farm stream. In other sections the water is barely moving. The council had to apply for a special water shortage direction from the regional council to take water outside its consent conditions.

The regional council said the direction was set at almost half the town's usual take - reduced from 5000cu m a day to 2600 cu m. The fact that water from the Kauri Dam is unusable because of a toxic algal bloom is exacerbating the situation.

Meanwhile, forecast showers haven't shown up yet and no significant rain is expected in the next week to 10 days.

The district council wants ratepayers to cut their water use by 20 per cent - those who are caught using water for prohibited activities face prosecution and a $20,000 fine.

One of the town's biggest employers, timber mill Juken Nissho, has also been asked to conserve water - a step business leaders say could be disastrous for a rural community if it has to reduce output.

Dairy farmer Brian Simms said a brief spell of rain last week saw an invasive kikuyu grass burst into life but it's poor quality. Other grasses are dead.

BANNED IN KAITAIA

* Washing cars
* Watering gardens
* Refilling swimming or spa pools