Far North Rises to the Challenge as the Drought Continues

New challenges are presenting themselves every day as the Far North District Council moves to cope with the increasing demands on its water and wastewater activities as a result of the Far North drought.

The focus has shifted from water to wastewater at Kaitaia this week as wastewater holding ponds near maximum capacity at the wastewater treatment plant off Bonnetts Road.

The council has been holding the treated effluent for much longer than usual, hoping that it would rain and the treated liquid could be discharged to the Awanui River, as it usually is.

But with river levels at an all time low and blue-green algae in the ponds, discharge into the waterway is not a good option and the council is now planning to discharge to land before the end of next week.

About 15 hectares of Landcorp land to the east of the ponds will be used for the discharge which will be pumped and piped through a temporary system to the property. Earthmovers are on site to create bunds on the land and ready it to receive some of the treated effluent.

Asset and Infrastructure General Manager David Penny says the disposal to land is a temporary measure and there is uncertainty as to how much sewage it will be able to hold because soakage will depend on the porosity of the soil and the level of evaporation.

“It’s the best we can do although it may not completely avert the need to discharge some of the treated effluent into the Awanui River under a closely monitored regime in conjunction with the Northland Regional Council,” he said.

“On the bright side, the algae levels in the Kauri Dam are dropping off almost to the point where the water can safely be treated for drinking purposes and this gives us about 30 days’ reserve. Coupled with the excellent conservation efforts of Kaitaia, this gives us a little more room to move.”

Elsewhere in the Far North, the pressure remains on the Rawene and Opononi/Omapere water supply systems with the real prospect of water having to be tankered into each of the communities with tankers operating for up to 10 hours every day. This operation could possibly in commence in about a week’s time depending on whether it rains or not.

The Waimamaku Stream will be the water source for Opononi and Omapere once the Waiotemarama Stream becomes unusable, while negotiations for an alternative source for Rawene are about to start to replace the shrinking Petaka Stream.

Kawakawa and Moerewa water supplies are not in good shape with the Tirohonga Stream also suffering because of the drought. People are asked to step up their water conservation effort in the two towns after latest results show a small downturn in the amount of water being saved.

Kaikohe’s water supply is under pressure and being monitored closely while the Kerikeri, Paihia and Okaihau supplies are standing up well to the drought.

Mr Penny says the council has turned its attention to the longer term and is investigating ways in which its at risk water sources can become more resilient in the event of extreme dry weather.

“We must seek alternatives and I’ll be reporting to the council on possible options within the next month or so,” Mr Penny said.

It was likely these would include tapping into the Sweetwater aquifer for Kaitaia, and a combination of additional river sources, bores and rain water tanks in communities too small to justify expensive reticulation.