Environment Southland's director of science and information, Graham Sevicke-Jones, said today that recent rain was expected to have little to no effect on river levels and aquifers across the region.
“Unless we get some heavy, sustained rain it isn’t going to alleviate the situation and it remains concerning.”
Water restrictions were already in place across most of Southland, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand have issued a complete fire ban for the region as well as Otago.
While a lot of people were subject to water restrictions, some farmers were continuing to irrigate within the conditions of their resource consents.
“Consent conditions vary from property to property, and farmers tend to draw their water from a range of sources, including stored supplies," Mr Sevicke-Jones said.
At this stage, approximately a quarter of properties with water take consents have triggered requirements to cease abstraction.
Environment Southland would continue to monitor the situation closely.
• More information about the current low water levels was available on Environment Southland’s website at www.es.govt.nz/low-water-levels, including graphs of aquifer levels, live river levels and situation updates.
