The long summer dry spell is beginning to bite and, with dropping water levels, the Marlborough District Council is preparing to restrict water take from the region’s rivers.

Environment Committee Chairman, Graeme Taylor says some consents have already been shut off in relation to the Omaka and Waihopai rivers.

Water levels are now dropping quickly and, if there is no rain within the next week, Mr Taylor says the level of some rivers will soon fall below the threshold specified for water take.

Consents likely to be affected soon include those for the Rai River, Tuamarina River, ‘B’ class water consents for the Wairau and Awatere rivers and ‘A’ class consents for the Waihopai River. This will include the Council’s Southern Valleys’ Irrigation scheme.

“Although we got that little bit of rain before Christmas it has been a dry six weeks since then and the 10mm we’ve had over January makes this one of the drier months on record,” he says.

Mr Taylor says the move won’t be a surprise to the pastoral farmers and grape growers who hold the consents as everyone has been watching the weather and they will have been monitoring the river levels published on the District Council website and in the local media.

Approximately 440 rural land owners may be affected, which includes about 240 users on the SVIS.

“Users know that they must comply with the conditions of their water consent and those who hold “B” consents, who are first to be restricted, should be aware that water storage capacity is an important component of their irrigation management,” he said.

The Council’s compliance team will be reading meters and doing spot checks to ensure everyone is complying with the conditions of their consents.

For further information contact:

Mark Caldwell (Compliance) Ph: 520 7400
Val Wadsworth (River flows) Ph: 520 7400

http://www.marlborough.govt.nz/