Woodville's new Impounded Supply site (reservoir) at present a boggy mess thanks to recent rain.
Woodville's new Impounded Supply site (reservoir) at present a boggy mess thanks to recent rain.
Woodville faces a water catch-22 this summer!
"If we have a dry summer we can complete our water storage project but residents will face water restrictions," says Tararua District Council group manager of plant and property, Dave Watson.
"If, however, we have another wet summer like last year, there won't be restrictions but the project will likely carry over another year."
Dannevirke's covered Impounded Supply. How Woodville's will look when completed.
In January, the project began to secure the future of the Woodville water supply, but it was interrupted by the wet weather. It meant the heavy equipment required to excavate the new impounded supply was unable to operate.
As summer gave way to autumn and winter, it became clear that the project would be stalled until Woodville was graced with a reasonable period of fine weather.
Ideally, the fine period needed to dry the ground would have arrived before the onset of summer. Dave, and Woodville, have simply not been that lucky.
One thousand litre tanks available from Canterbury Spinners.
"I really need a solid two weeks of drying weather to be able to get the equipment back on site," he explains.
Fortunately, a number of contingency plans have been put in place to minimise the impact of potential water restrictions on Woodville residents. Temporary water storage of around 2000 cubic metres is in place in McLean St near the racecourse to provide some resilience.
"We need to ensure we are covered in case of emergencies such as fire."
A further four tanks, holding 30,000 litres each, are in place to provide public access if required. There are two tanks on Fox St next to the stadium and two on McLean St outside the old Infracon building. All four tanks have taps fitted to make filling containers easy.
If restrictions become severe and demand on these tanks increases significantly, contingency plans are already in place to transport water from Dannevirke to maintain supply.
"We need everyone in Woodville to play their part this summer and contribute to water conservation. We'll be promoting water conservation messages but at the end of the day we need the people of Woodville to help."
In addition to filling up for domestic needs at the four tanks in town, residents can contact council to borrow one of the two 750 litre plastic tanks for larger water needs such as waterblasting.
If residents want to put in place their own contingency plans, they may like to consider putting in roof fed storage tanks that are available from most hardware stores or stock and station agents. Council still have a number of 200 litre tanks available for sale and Canterbury Spinners in Dannevirke has 1000 litre tanks for sale while stocks last.
"I'm hopeful we can make it through summer reasonably well with the plans in place and people adhering to the water conservation message" says Dave, "but ultimately it will be Mother Nature that makes that decision."
There surely aren't many towns in New Zealand hoping for water restrictions over summer, but this is the situation Woodville finds itself in.
