Still a no go zone for Taranaki

The rainfall in New Plymouth District has not been enough to lift water restrictions and the rural fire ban.

On Sunday the Mangorei reservoirs received 16.5mm of rain, and the district’s rivers and streams rose briefly but are now receding rapidly.

Water demand dropped by nine million litres on Sunday compared to the daily average last week, and Manager Water and Wastes Mark Hall asks the public to keep conserving water in the weeks ahead.

“The ground is still pretty dry so there will be a temptation for people to top up the watering of their gardens and perhaps wash down hard surfaces, but we ask residents to keep on saving water as we have a dry stretch ahead of us,” he says.

The MetService shows a period of sunny and dry weather from tomorrow with the possibility of showers on days nine and 10.

“We need several days of good, saturating rain before we can lift the water restrictions,” says Mr Hall. “Even after yesterday’s rain, the district has less soil moisture than it did on 3 March.”

The rain has also not had much effect on the indices used to determine when the fire ban will be lifted.

The four indices are the fine fuel moisture code (which tracks the moisture content of litter and other cured fine fuels), duff moisture code (the average moisture content of loosely compacted organic layers), drought code (the average moisture content of deep, compact organic layers) and the build-up index (the total amount of fuel available for combustion).

Currently, the district rates high or extreme on three of the four indices.

Restrictions in place

• Okato: A total ban on the use of sprinklers, irrigation systems and all hoses.
• Elsewhere in New Plymouth District: A ban on the use of sprinklers and irrigation systems. Hand-held hoses may be used only on the odds and evens system.
• Rural areas: No open-air burning activities allowed. Any existing rural fire permits are suspended until the prohibition is lifted. Anyone planning a hangi in a rural area should contact the Council first, with these requests considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Urban areas: New Plymouth District has a permanent ban on burning household rubbish or green waste on sections less than 5,000m in urban areas serviced by weekly rubbish collections. There is no general urban fire ban in place yet, so sections greater than 5,000m can still have fires as long as they do not harm the environment or create a nuisance to neighbours.