Invercargill district residents may see restrictions on hosing and sprinklers as soon as next week.
Although rain is forecast, the overall outlook for February is for dry conditions to continue, meaning it is increasingly probable that water restrictions will be imposed in Invercargill and Bluff. Invercargill City Council Group Manager Infrastructure Erin Moogan said if the Ōreti River flow continues to drop, unattended hosing or sprinkler use would be prohibited.
Under Council’s permit to draw water there was a condition set by Environment Southland to apply water conservation measures according to the river’s flow. The first trigger for conservation measures is when the flow falls to, or below 4 cubic metres per second.
The second trigger is set at 3.2 cubic metres per second. As of Thursday 26 January, the Ōreti River flow at Riverton Highway Bridge is at 5.87 cubic metres per second. “Forecast rain may alleviate this in the short-term, but restrictions are becoming increasingly likely,” she said. Ms Moogan said all domestic unattended hosing and sprinklers would be prohibited when the first trigger point was reached, which could happen as early as next week.
This means hand-held watering of gardens and no sprinkler use. The second trigger point activates the prohibition of all domestic outside use of water, such as washing cars and watering gardens, she said. “The second trigger can be quite soon after the first so people should be prepared.” It is important that Council follows the measures set by Environment Southland in order to protect the Ōreti River system, she said.