Rain relief eases Water Restrictions

Tasman District Council eases some Water Restrictions.

Recent Rain enables easing of Water Restrictions for Waimea and Wakefield urban users 

22 January, 2024

Tasman District Council has announced a further lifting of Water Restrictions for users of Council-managed urban reticulated supplies. 

Effective immediately, residents in Richmond, Hope, Brightwater, Wakefield, Māpua/ Ruby Bay and Eighty-Eight Valley will move to Phase A restrictions, while residents in the Redwood Valley 1 and 2 supplies will move to Phase B. 

However, Dovedale will remain at Phase D for the time being. 

“We appreciate that recent weeks have seen a number of changes in terms of the extent of restrictions. These have been dictated by our efforts to keep within our consented takes, which were affected by the amount of rainfall and the demand for water in the Waimea and Wakefield urban supplies,” Tasman Group Manager – Community Infrastructure Richard Kirby said. 

“The recent issues surrounding the Wakefield Water treatment plant and our reallocation of water to supply this area also contributed to restriction levels.” 

“However, with the recent resolution of the Wakefield issues and sufficient rainfall in between the dry periods, the overall demand for water has declined to the point where we can implement the lesser level of restrictions.” 

“While it is pleasing to be able to reduce restrictions in most areas, there is always a possibility that we  could revert if we have ongoing dry weather between now and the end of the summer period.” 

“Therefore, we encourage everyone to use water according to their area’s Phase level, with an eye towards conserving water where they can – be it ensuring taps are turned off or not putting water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering plants or cleaning.” 

 “We also want to say thanks to everyone for your help and effort as we have navigated the circumstances of the last few weeks.” 

Richard said the decision to keep Dovedale at Phase D stemmed from the area currently being at Stage 1 (a 20 per cent reduction in use) for consent holders. 

“We therefore need to keep Phase D restrictions to keep compliance, but we stress that water is still allowed to be used for public health and stock wellbeing reasons.” 

More information around water restrictions can be found at Current restrictions - reticulated | Tasman District Council(external link) 

Phase A restrictions mean; 

• watering of grass or lawns is not permitted.  
• Watering decorative and productive gardens is permitted using a handheld hose with trigger nozzle or time limited water system.  
• Filling a pool is prohibited, but pools can still be topped up.   

Under Phase B 

YOU CAN: 

• Do outdoor washing (cars, windows, outdoor areas) with a hand held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, water blaster or bucket. 
• You can water your flowers/trees/planters every second day only with a hand held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, watering systems on a timer or a bucket. Watering listed protected trees is allowed using these methods. 
• You can water your veggie garden and fruit trees with a hand held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, watering systems on a timer or a bucket. 

YOU CAN’T: 

• Water the lawn. 
• Fill or top up a pool, spa or water feature. 
• Use water for play.

Tasman District Council, Communications.

Pigeon Post News, Richmond.