Community Asked To Think About Water Usage

The entire district is being urged to work together to prevent water restrictions this summer, Queenstown Lakes District Council 3 Waters manager Gerry Essenberg said.

“The hottest part of the year is approaching bringing with it increased demand on our water supply, “he said. “Now’s the time for us to be looking at the way we use water in order to make the best use of the available supply over summer.”

Mr Essenberg said that in previous years, restrictions were required but if people took steps now, the implementation of restrictions could be delayed or even avoided altogether.

“We’re asking everyone to be realistic about how much water they use,” Mr Essenberg said.
” 2,100 litres per day is considered more than enough water for domestic use but when you consider a sprinkler can use around 1,300 litres per hour it’s easy to see how people can quite quickly use up more than their fair share.”

He said Queenstown and Wanaka’s lakeside location meant it was sometimes hard for people to grasp that water was a finite resource.

“It seems odd to talk about conserving water when we’re sitting beside lakes full of millions of gallons of the stuff but the reality is that getting water to the tap comes at a cost in terms of the infrastructure we need to provide.”

“We all need to be aware that there are limitations particularly in the water sensitive areas of Hawea, Lake Hayes and Arthurs Point but by working together right across the district, we can make sure that the best and most efficient use is made of the water supplies we have.”

“There are many simple things we can do to conserve water and if we all start doing one or two of them now, hopefully we’ll see a water restriction-free summer.”

Mr Essenberg said an hour a day of irrigation was considered a fair share of total water for the day. He said people should also use timers to turn their irrigation systems on between midnight and 6am when demand on the water supply was low.

More information on how to conserve water is available on the QLDC’s sustainability website CHOICE http://choice.qldc.govt.nz.