Farmers across the region are also affected by the weather, some of them already sending stock to slaughter because of it, Federated Farmers Otago president Phill Hunt said yesterday.
And there would be people making individual decisions, based on market conditions and the weather outlook, which was for a continued dry spell, he said.
"It’s better to make those decisions earlier."
Most of Otago and Southland, including Fiordland, the Catlins, and the Queenstown Lakes district, is in a restricted fire zone, meaning permits are needed for any fires.
Central Otago, including Wanaka, Alexandra and Cromwell, has a total ban on all open-air fires. In Dunedin, the recent run of 20degC-plus days, which the MetService was expecting to continue for another 10 days, has put water-delivery companies under pressure, dealing with orders from householders concerned about their falling tank water levels.
The Department of Conservation has called for "extreme vigilance" in rural areas after its Te Anau-based crew spent Sunday and Monday fighting a large fire on Mt Titiroa, in Southern Fiordland. A lighting strike was thought to have started the fire which burnt through about 20ha of tussock on the western slopes of the mountain almost directly above the North Borland bivvy.
For water delivery firms in the Dunedin area, the stationary high-pressure system brought a sudden increase in orders from owners of properties not on a reticulated water supply.
Given the very wet winter and spring, the availability of water had gone "from a feast to a famine, from overflowing tanks to a need to monitor the level", HA Foote Haulage Ltd manager Mike Rogan said yesterday. The company had received "a lot of inquiries in the past week or so" and some of the orders were backing up, as people had been looking ahead and ordering early. Cargill Contracting, of Waitati, owner George Terry said it was hard to say how long they would be busy but, with a hot dry summer predicted, "it could be several months".
Steve Clearwater, of Steve Clearwater Contracting, said there had "certainly been an increase" in local water orders during the past 10 days or so, "since the weather warmed up".
Their 12,000-litre tanker had been used for almost 20 deliveries this week.
