Water restrictions in Picton and Waikawa have now been lifted.
Council’s Operations and Maintenance Engineer Stephen Rooney says cooler weather, evenings drawing in and heavy dews
along with a few scattered showers in the past few weeks have reduced demand. “People are using less water which is
common for this time of year as gardening tapers off,” he said.
“We are now able to lift the restrictions although we do still ask Picton and Waikawa residents to conserve water. While
we are still unable to use Essons Valley due to algae in the dam, the Speeds Road water treatment plant is meeting
demand,” Mr Rooney said.
Water restrictions were put in place on 9 January after hot weather, high demand and a reduced water level in the Essons
Valley dam pushed the town’s supply to its limit, leaving it reliant on the Speeds Road supply and reservoirs at the
Elevation and Victoria Domain.
Prior to the restrictions, the Picton and Waikawa community was using more than 6000 m3 of water per day; after
restrictions took effect this dropped to 4000 m3, Mr Rooney said. “We want to thank the everyone for their efforts to
save water while the restrictions were in place. Thanks for making every drop count,” Mr Rooney said.
Council had long planned to install waters meters in the town, beginning this year or next, he said. “The introduction
of water meters will help Council and the community to reduce demand - water meters encourage people to conserve water
and reduce leaks significantly.”
After meters were installed in Renwick, Seddon, Wairau Valley and Havelock demand dropped in those townships by up to 35
per cent. Wasteful leaks have also been eliminated through the metering programme.
“There are no cheap or easy solutions for sourcing more fresh water for Picton so metering is by far the best and most
cost effective solution for reducing future demand. Council proposes to bring the metering project forward and start
talking with the community about it over the next 12 months,” said Mr Rooney.
These were the first major water restrictions in Picton since the summer of 2000/01.