One of the wettest areas in New Zealand is running out of water

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From reporter Steven Walton:

The West Coast might be considered the wettest area in the country, but some of its residents using too much water may soon have to endure short bursts without it.

The Grey District Council says two of its communities are facing a “serious situation” and residents there must reduce their water usage “in every way possible” to avoid the water being shut off for temporary periods.

The communities being urged to conserve water are Blackball and greater Greymouth, an area that covers Greymouth, Cobden, Blaketown, Boddytown, Karoro, South Beach, and Paroa.

“We don't want to impose water stoppages but may be forced to if we cannot bring our usage down,” the council said.


The warning has come just a week after the council said its water network was under “significant pressure” due to “the long spell of hot dry weather and increased demand”.

“We experience supply issues when demand for the water starts to exceed our ability to draw water from the ground.”

The council has shared water saving tips online, which include not flushing your toilet at night, taking a small bath instead of a shower, and not using your dishwasher as often.

Sprinklers or irrigation systems have been banned.

“What we’re hoping is if people do conserve water, then we’ll be fine, if everybody does their bit,” Grey District mayor Tania Gibson said.

Gibson said if usage decreased, water shutdowns would be unlikely.

If it was shut off, it would only be for an hour or so across different zones, she said.


The council was also looking at adding chlorine to one water plant, which would allow it to feed water to Runanga “and take pressure off the Grey [supply]”, she said.

Gibson urged everyone to save water and suggested people could turn their taps off when brushing their teeth, only put the washing machine on with a full load, and reuse shower water to water plants.

She said council gardens were now being watered with water from the council fountain.

“My kids wanted to go out on the trampoline with the hose the other night, they were very put out [that they couldn’t],” she said.


“If everybody does their bit and tries hard to conserve it, but still goes about their everyday life and enjoys the sunshine we’re having, it shouldn’t get to [water shutdowns],” she said.


Gibson said the West Coast was “very blasé” about water usage.


“We’ve had it very good and [conserving is] not something that we always have to do.”

The council recently posted two graphs on Facebook that showed each community’s total daily water usage and whether it was considered moderate, high or extreme.

For greater Greymouth, most days have fluttered in high to extreme usage, with only about three days of moderate usage.

Meanwhile, Blackball has not had a day of moderate usage since Christmas.

Both water supplies are fed through underground bores.

Last week, the council said the bores at Coal Creek, which is the source of water for Greymouth, had dropped 0.7 metres in a week. The total water level was 1.7m and it was still falling, the council said at the time.

The council said on Monday that with no significant rain forecast in the next 10 days, the water supply would remain under strain.

The West Coast is historically the wettest area of New Zealand.