Precious (little) rain for lakes

Weekend rainfall has given the southern hydro lake levels a short breather in the face of a winter power shortage crisis, Meridian Energy says.

Spokesman Alan Seay said that since Friday night 100mm of rain had fallen in the Waitaki catchment, which includes Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki.

Lake Tekapo's level was up a little, and Lake Pukaki's level had stopped falling, he said.

Further south, the rainfall had brought Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri "out of the low range".

As a result, more power could be generated at Manapouri, relieving "a bit" of the pressure on the Waitaki system, Mr Seay said.

"It's brought us a bit of time, but there's an awful lot more needed before there's any dramatic change to the situation.

"I don't think there's any more [rain] in sight for the next few days so nothing changes."

Meanwhile, energy savings around the country hit 4.7 per cent on Friday and Saturday, the highest so far.

Concerns over the levels of hydro lakes have led to a call by the Winter Power Taskforce to make 10 per cent voluntary domestic savings by the end of May or face forced cuts.

Taskforce head Patrick Strange said yesterday that it would take time to reach the target.

"We're getting there. Five per cent, even 4.5 per cent, is quite a lot of savings."

- NZPA