Whoops! Accidental irrigation in Ellerslie park 'beyond stupid' amid water shortage, drainage issues

Senior Reporter, NZ Herald - Wellington·NZ Herald·

6 Jul, 2020 06:18 AM3 mins to read

Phil took the photos of irrigation and flooding at Michaels Ave Reserve about 1pm today. Photo / Supplied

A technical fault has been blamed for what an Auckland resident has labelled a "beyond stupid" move to irrigate a swamped field on a wet winter's day in the middle of a water shortage.

The council says it had no plans to water Michaels Avenue Reserve this afternoon - as no irrigation is taking place while the city attempts to conserve water - saying it was due to a faulty irrigation system.

The swamped field caught the attention of a shocked Auckland man who took photos of irrigation being carried out at the Michaels Ave Reserve this afternoon.

The photos show water being sprayed onto sopping wet fields, creating large puddles on the grass.

The man, who wanted to only be identified as Phil, said irrigating a swamped field on a wet winter's day in the middle of a water shortage was "beyond stupid".

He was a regular visitor to the park and said there was often flooding on the fields

"The fields at Michaels Ave Reserve are already flooded from the heavy rain last night and today. Apparently this flooding has happened for years and has not been properly fixed yet by the council.

Phil said it would be an "easy" fix for council to sort the drainage issues.

Auckland Council regional sports facilities manager Scott Malcolm said as soon as council was notified about the technical malfunction contractors worked quickly to shut the irrigation system off and reset it.

Malcolm said water ponding on sports fields after heavy rain was a common issue in Auckland, but the council was in the process of inspecting the drainage system at Michaels Ave Reserve to identify any issues.

There has been about one-quarter less rainfall in the city's catchment areas compared to a normal year since November 2019, according to Watercare.

As of the weekend, the overall dam storage was 55.35 per cent full.

Normally the dams would be about 80 per cent full at the start of July.

Watercare has set a target for Auckland to use a daily total of 409 million litres or less.

Watercare is continuing to push the message for people to use less water when carrying out various tasks - including when taking a shower and brushing teeth.

A Watercare spokeswoman could not comment on the irrigation at the park, saying it was a council issue.

But she said the water restrictions under stage one dictated fields could only be watered if the irrigation system was connected to a soil moisture sensor or a rain sensor, or if a non-potable water supply was being used.

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