A conserve water notice for the Oamaru supply was lifted yesterday . The notice was put in place in the wake of flooding a fortnight ago, with residents and businesses urged to use water for only “essential needs”. The Waitaki District Council said it had remained in place longer than “initially hoped” as overall water demand “did not reduce significantly’’. It emerged last week that despite the notice, there had been no significant drop in water use by the public. The council yesterday thanked those “who made an effort to reduce their water use while the notice was in place”. “Maintaining the notice gave our operators the best opportunity to protect the treatment process while managing challenging raw water conditions and maintaining a safe and reliable water supply.” Operational staff and water maintenance contractor SouthRoads worked “tirelessly” to keep water “flowing to our community”. Heavy rain earlier this month meant the council was unable to pump water into the supply due to its turbidity, leaving the stored water at Ardgowan Dam as the only available source. Council chief executive Alex Parmley last week said the Oamaru water supply, which also supplies several rural communities, was “historically” fed through an open channel which could be “vulnerable” during severe weather. A new delivery system, piping water from a secure pond on the Waitaki Plains, was a priority and expected to be in place within two years. “That will significantly reduce the opportunity for flood run-off to enter the supply and cause the high turbidity that is currently slowing treatment.” Until the new supply was built, the community would “need to help manage demand” during weather events that affected treatment capacity, Mr Parmley said. The Waitaki district is now in recovery mode after a state of emergency declared in the wake of this month’s flooding was lifted.
