Monthly Archives: Mar 2021

Sitting down to start the day in the home office while hubby – Peter is recovering from his hip/pelvis surgery on the six weeks. Video conference emergency flashing notification message from a Deaf caller on the desktop, was the first thing to start the day at 930am. Click and start the video conferencing to find a silly and confused contractor who was lost for his job by his Fibre Company and asking for the request on which Kia Oranga (formerly Housing New Zealand) house. Guided him by describing the house in front of the Deaf person’s rented house by Kia Oranga. He located the right house and hung up the video call. Resume checking my diary, checking, checking appointments until Peter yelled out Mummmmmm, and came into the home office, the printer won’t print. Sigh!

A few moments at a time, I sorted out the printer and stopped for a coffee break to calm my annoying of having distracted. Nova, our young dog, bought home a ‘throw out bread crust’ for I know Peter threw put from the kitchen windows. Oh, bother, I decided to leave this and head back to the home office, so I continue to work.

Barking, barking, swiftly, swiftly go the noise, I went out to investigate where dogs are doing, and Peter is painting the side door. Our dogs had been chasing tractor pass down the road. Sigh! Walk back to the home office and found a notification message flashing on the desktop, waiting for me to answer. It was the caller from the UK about the disability news – Deafblind group. It was lovely to receive their story from them.

Moving on to my course materials where I was supposed to do the assignments since Peter was out of the hospital. Reading the materials and thought of something to take notes and details in the course materials. Another flashing message popped up, asking if I am free to chat over a grave concern or not. Oh well, why not! Rats the update software popped up at the same time I was prepared to send the chat to the Deaf caller. I was waiting for the downloading software to finish and finally hit the chat video button. We chatted over the issues, then noticed my time near for my quick lunch and headed off to my appointment in the city of Hamilton.

Finally, I came home but guess what! Peter lets our dogs out as the dogs were pleased to see me at the front gate, where I headed to open the gate. I gave them a command to stay, so I get in my car and move inside the property before heading to the carport. Quickly out of the vehicle while our dogs chasing around the car and came to me while I closed the gate. I turned and found Peter was standing near the carport, and I did not hear him telling our dogs to stay. He has amused us as we walked back to the house. I saw our side door freshly painted in greyish colour. That was a nice colour for a change from dark blue as the door had been weather battered down over a few years. We have a coffee break, then Peter off to rest his hip and pelvis, and I head back to the home office to do more works. I was hoping no more distracted or disrupted while I am working until nearly dinner time.

There was never-ending as Nova got vomiting, Peter had done the rubbish bag ready to take out, our middle dog – Jazz barking at the person who walked past, and then our older dog Joseph wanting to sleep under the work table. More emails came through, and I have a quick check through emails. I decided it was time to stop and take the rubbish bag out by keeping the dogs inside so I can have a breather while walking down the private road. I turned around to check our fields – ohhhh, for God sake! Peter let the dogs out, so they came to find me on the other side of the fence. I walked back to the gate for the dogs to know that they stayed until I closed the gate. A few more jobs to do outside, such as locked the garage side door and the greenhouse double doors before heading back to the house as dinner time already.

That was my daily routine around at home while Peter is recovering from the surgery since six weeks ago.

Coming home from work and admiring the broad landscape during the lovely hot summer. One problem IS Waikato did not have any heavy rain for four years. The vast country farm’s landscape bearing signs of brunt brownish, and there are not much greener grasses left surrounding the farmland. It is an early stage of becoming drought for all greater Waikato and Waipa.

There have been changing global warming over many years, which is the sign of the longest drought we face and prepare for the worst. In the Waikato area, we prepare to save water by collecting rainwaters into the storage case/tanks through the Winter, BUT we did not have the heaviest rainfall for such long times. We, local farmers, regularly check the water tanks, streams and entrapment streams, and some of the farmers plan large water storage ponds for their cows. It is still not enough for ALL local farmers and orchardists around Waikato and Waipa. We are not living in the Greater Auckland area as Waikato and Waipa lie outside the boundaries lines. Our water comes from the Waikato River – the longest river of the North Island and outside the Auckland area. 

Waikato is the fourth largest region in New Zealand and covering 25,000 square kilometres. A map will show here. 

https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/about-the-waikato-region/

Northland – land area 12,504 kilometres. The Northland region has a vast farming area, and they are already on the brink of another longest drought over 23 years. Northland is prone to drought. Here is a quote – “many households had “inadequate old, poor condition water infrastructure with insufficient storage volume and no water treatment”. “The (2019/2020) drought exposed significant water poverty, particularly amongst communities without public water supply schemes. This was a human rights issue..” https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/431857/water-poverty-in-drought-prone-northland-a-human-rights-issue

Auckland – land area 4,941 kilometres BUT high population where Auckland Council can not cope or catch up with continuing growth high population, lack of leadership, planning and delay projects. The result of the actions was to due financial blowout budgets or under budget due to the demand for roads, transports, lack of land for housing, and slow time-consuming. In Auckland, there are five reservoirs in the Waitakere ranges that supply Auckland. Note that Greater Auckland is NOT a rural area, it is an urban city where there are over million peoples using high intake water for the businesses, households and transports. Of course many of the businesses are using high volume of water blasters for car businesses, and cleaning out waste chemicals in the industries and many other way of using high intake water in the businesses. The Auckland council have a very different guideline on when and when not to use high water intake including water blaster. I disagree with their guideline and water restriction.

The Waikato region council observed the water level, maintaining the roads, population growth to match housing demands, farming, livestock, and many other things. Because they have projects for a ten years goal plan along with the financial cost and budget. We recently have a couple of the largest projects underway, and there are Waikato Express Motorway from Bombay to Cambridge via Hamilton and Ruakura Inland Port.  

Map of Ruakura Inland Port show here.

 https://www.ruakura.co.nz/about-ruakura/

Every year we, Waikato people, receive reminder letters and notices about the water level, a reminder on restricted using water during the Summer season, and how can we use water. For example, hand watering the garden between 6am-8am, no water blasters, and soaking water in the ground. 

Last year, we, the Waikato people, learnt the new from Auckland City Council, begging to borrow the Waikato River – 200 million litres per day to feed all Aucklanders and businesses. Simultaneously, the Waikato River is almost low because they – Aucklanders desperate for more water and their lakes, including a small number of water storages running very low. There were many debates between Waikato Regional Council, Hamilton City Council, Auckland Council – Watercare company, Waikato River Authority, Māori Board. 

“Parker said he was surprised it has taken seven years to get to this point, but the application was made for water, Auckland did not think it would need until 2030.” This quote was dated in November 2020. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/board-of-inquiry-to-decide-whether-auckland-can-take-more-water-from-the-waikato-river/3FRLFAQZNL5PCR64KWCIMU5QT4/

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2020/07/15/fixing-aucklands-water-crisis.html

Quote – “Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram told Auckland councillors today that if the drought continues with little rain until summer, there will be about 200 million litres of water a day from the Waikato River (170m litres) and the Onehunga spring (about 20m litres). Normal usage of water in summer is about 560m litres.” https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/aucklands-water-crisis-brings-an-alert-system-similar-to-covid-19/LW734FHDMHYFLRJI2CQTG4YGLM/

Quote – “They made fundamental errors. They should have had a Plan B, they should have invested in capital to ensure they had enough [Waikato river water] processing capacity at Tuakau, they should never have let those dams get that dry.”

“Rimmington’s theory is that Watercare, smug in the knowledge its dams were 89 per cent full at the beginning of November, continued using that water supply for too long instead of gearing up to get more water via the Waikato river treatment route.” 

“To process water from Tuakau is more expensive than draining it from the dams at Hunua, so they were saving money by using the dams, hoping the autumn rains would come.” https://www.newsroom.co.nz/the-wettest-drought-on-record-a-history

“Auckland has been well aware of water issues confronting their city for at least 40 years now. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/121935555/waikato-council-rejects-aucklands-queue-jumping-bid-for-water

The promise was made by the Mayor of Auckland is that once they receive more water and they will return the clean water pour back to Waikato River back in 2004 and 2013. Actually, the promise never made, and the Waikato River Authority suggests that all Aucklanders should pay water rate, “Hamilton’s helping hand comes in stark contrast to the responses from the Waikato River Authority and the Waikato Regional Council. Earlier this week, the River Authority’s chief executive, Bob Penter, proposed that if Auckland wants 25 million additional litres from the river each day, it can pay 10-cents-per-litre for the privilege – with a daily receipt of a whopping $2.5 million.” https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/07/auckland-water-crisis-hamilton-city-council-agrees-to-allot-25-million-litres-of-water-from-its-annual-allocation-to-help-auckland.html

The local Eureka community received our latest newsletter in our rural mailboxes last week, and inside the newsletter, I checked how much rainfall and temperature we have experience here. It appeared that we did not receive heavy rain and increasing the weather, which up to 30C over the last two months.

Here is a short video of our property and see how much grasses have gone to brown patches everywhere.