Gratitude flows for local retailers
Retailers across the district played an invaluable role helping to get the message out when water restrictions were applied in the Far North this summer – winning a big thanks from the council.
Water restriction signs displaying the familiar drinking glass imagery began appearing in December outside shops, supermarkets, hardware stores and petrol stations across the district as the council prepared for the hot and dry summer predicted by weather forecasters.
The council’s Water Shortage Management Committee applied restrictions to six of the eight council-operated water supplies this summer. It based its decisions on data collected daily and weekly on the health of rivers and bores used as raw water sources. It applies water restrictions when levels in these sources drop or when demand for treated water stretches the capacity of water treatment plants.
To help keep communities informed of the four water restriction levels and what each level means, retailers updated their signs following each decision by the Water Shortage Management Committee. At Level 2, use of sprinklers and irrigation systems are banned. At Level 3, hoses are also banned. No towns in the Far North reached Level 4 this summer, the highest level, which asks people to use water for essential purposes only.
All water restrictions in the Far North were lifted at the end of April 2024, with all water supplies now back to Level 1, which permits all water use but encourages people to use water sensibly.
Six Far North water supplies reached Level 2 restrictions this summer for several months, and Kaikohe-Ngāwhā went to Level 3 restrictions for just under a month. Two water sources - Kaitāia and Ōkaihau - remained at Level 1 throughout the summer season.
A big thanks from the council to all the helpful staff at:
- Kaikohe – New World and Mobil
- Hokianga – Hokianga Takeaways and No.1 Parnell
- Paihia – Four Square
- Waitangi – Countdown
- Kerikeri – New World, Countdown, Mitre 10, and The Warehouse
- Kawakawa – Four Square
- Moerewa – BP
- Kaitāia – Mobil and Te Ahu isite
- Awanui - BP
