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.
Life in Eureka 