Waipukurau back to Level 2 water restrictions following water leak and community conservation efforts

Central Hawke’s Bay District Council has eased water restrictions back to Level 2 following a leak on the mains network early yesterday morning, which caused the Pukeora Reservoir (the sole source of water to Waipukurau) to drop to 25 percent capacity, compromising the water supply to some 4,000 residents in Waipukurau.

Chief Executive of Central Hawke’s Bay District Council Doug Tate thanked the Waipukurau community for their conservation efforts.

“Really just a big thank you to everyone who conserved water yesterday and helped with the effort, from businesses to households. Thanks also to the Waipukurau Volunteer Fire Brigade for sharing the message. The community’s efforts saw our usage well below our usual rate throughout the day, which meant the recovery of the reservoir to where it needed to be (70 to 90 percent full) was well ahead of time.”

Community investment in a new water main on Pōrangahau Road over the past two years also significantly reduced the potential impact to hundreds of residents, with the break occurring on an old main used for firefighting only, which is due to be decommissioned late this year.

“Without this community investment, many hundreds of residents would have had no water for potentially upwards of 24 hours,” says Mr Tate. “While this event was still challenging, it shows the importance of the continued investment across our water networks for the future."

While Level 4 restrictions have been eased, Level 2 restrictions districtwide remain in place.

For further details on water restrictions and what these mean, please see: https://www.chbdc.govt.nz/services/water/water-restrictions/

For tips on how you can save water at home, please see: https://www.chbdc.govt.nz/services/water/using-water/

25 January 2024

Back to Archive