DCC Calls For People to Conserve Water

Dunedin (Friday, 1 February 2013) – Please wind up your garden hose, at least for the next few days.

With the prospect of little rain and more hot weather over the next few days, Dunedin residents are being asked to use less water outside, especially on lawns and gardens.

Dunedin City Council Acting Water and Waste Services Manager Gerard McCombie says with the recent spell of hot weather, there has been a sharp increase in demand across the city.

“The DCC water network supply on the Otago Peninsula has had particularly high demand today where the level in the reservoir has dropped quite sharply.”

Mr McCombie says it would be appreciated if residents could use less water so that adequate back-up supply can be maintained in the reservoirs for fire fighting.

“Where garden watering is required, it is best carried out in the mornings or evenings when evaporation rates are lowest and the water gets a chance to soak in.”

Mr McCombie hopes that if people conserve water over the next few days, it will reduce the likelihood of formal water restrictions being introduced.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>