Auckland drought: How just thinking about water made the difference

Tuesday, 26 January 2021

The Waikato River and the location where Auckland draws water into its pipeline

Aucklanders’ drought-inspired water thoughtfulness is a big factor in the city pulling through it’s longest-ever severe dry spell.

While the city’s storage dams continue to decline, new water sources are bolstering supplies, and consumption is 10 per cent lower than a year ago, easing anxiety levels at Auckland's water company.

Restrictions introduced in May 2020 as the storage lakes drained, have been relatively mild, yet Watercare believes even a continued dry spell no longer poses the supply risks which sparked action last Autumn.

The shift was shown up starkly over the past week when the improvement due to both better supply and ongoing conservation, topped 100 million litres a day, compared with a year earlier.

* Auckland drought: Easy and creative ways to save water this summer

* Auckland drought: How did we get to crisis point and what do we do next?

The Upper Nihotupu Dam hit near-record lows in May 2020

It is a far cry from early 2020, when summer consumption hit a peak of 560 million litres a day, and the longest dryspell on record pushed storage lakes down to just 42 per cent full in May.

In late January, Aucklanders used as little as 402 million litres in one day.

Currently, Aucklanders can use mains water outdoors only when using a trigger nozzle on hand-held hoses, a summer restriction which replaced an outdoor ban during winter.

Watercare's head of servicing and consents Mark Bourne in the council agency's 'drought incident' room.

“The real savings though have come through education, not just with residential customers but with commercial customers as well,” said Mark Bourne, Watercare’s head of servicing and consents.

The rising levels of alarm in early 2020 as the drought bit, was the first time in nearly 20 years that Aucklanders had been confronted with the reality that water is not unlimited.

Auckland councillors, who oversee Watercare, had to approve winter restrictions on use, with the mayor Phil Goff suggesting the council-owned company had not given early enough warning.

Lower Auckland water consumption in 2021 compared with a year earlier prior to drought restrictions.

A $224 million package to re-commission smaller disused water sources and agreement to fast-track an increased take from the Waikato River – currently supply 40 per cent of Auckland’s needs, averted crisis.

But Bourne said an important part was also the campaign urging water-frugal habits such as shorter showers.

Data from Watercare shows even with the relatively mild summer restrictions, Aucklanders are continuing to be much more thoughtful than they were a year ago, with how they use water.

It's an awareness that will remain important, with the drought-like weather expected to continue.

“Latest Metservice weather forecasts indicate we are experiencing an unusually dry La Niña weather pattern. A high pressure will block any chance of decent rain for the next four weeks,” said Bourne.

Boosting the supply side will be the imminent resumption of supply from Papakura’s Hays Creek Dam, after new plant was installed, adding 6 million litres a day.

A further 4 million litres daily will come in April from an upgraded Onehunga acquifer, and mid-year a new treatment plant and pump in Tuakau will add 50 million litres a day – a boost not originally planned until the late 2020s.

Auckland's supply lakes are sitting on 64.6 per cent full, compared with 86.5 per cent “normal” over many years.

Bourne said the reality of water-consciousness and boosted supply means that the rate of decline in the dams is half what it was this time a year ago, despite a comparable absence of rain.

The Hunua Ranges hold Auckland’s biggest water catchment, and the area has had its lowest annual rainfall on record, but the city’s new habits are balancing that out.

“Aucklanders have adopted shorter showers and other measures, as part of their lifestyle,” said Bourne.