Westport's water crisis deepens

A meagre 11mm of rain on Monday night has failed to relieve Westport's water crisis, and reservoir levels have since plummeted another 150mm.

Some businesses are now considering closing and the Westport Miners Brewery has stopped production. Schools will be forced to shut soon unless a decent rainfall eases the crisis.

Buller District Council will today bring in another pump from Christchurch and pipes from Auckland to help pump more water from Giles Creek, which feeds the town's three reservoirs.

"With no significant rain forecast, a second pump is now on its way, and should double the supplementary supply to around 5000 cubic metres per day," said council chief executive Gary Murphy.

"This will provide for daily usage, providing that water conservation measures are improved."

The reservoirs now held about two days' supply, he said. Town pressure had been further reduced.

"If we are unable to maintain minimum reservoir levels, water shutdowns during certain hours of the day are likely," Mr Murphy said.

Buller Mayor Martin Sawyers was confident the extra pump would be sufficient, as long as people continued conserving water.

Westport's swimming pool shut yesterday and schools have had to cancel district swimming sports.

Seal Colony Tourist Park said his Carters Beach camp had about 120 guests a night but without water it would have to shut.

Miners Brewery manager Alan Absalom said it had stopped production to conserve water.

"I never thought I'd be praying for rain in Westport," he said.

- NZPA