the state of our environment | February 2014

All up February, and summer for that matter, weren’t too shabby. Rainfall hovered around normal February amounts for those living up Wairoa way but was a bit limp-wristed elsewhere and has been all summer. Early February rain momentarily startled river flows and soil moisture but like rubber bands they bounced back to pre-rain levels, and it seems our groundwater stocks barely batted an eyelid. The rain tap was well and truly turned off for the rest of February and not a skerrick of water fell in a number of our gauges for three weeks. This contributed to a reasonably dry summer overall - obviously not as dry as last year’s drought but you might be bored to tears to know some places, such as Bridge Pa, had only one more day of rain than last summer, it’s just that during those days it helpfully managed to slurp up double the rain. As for temperatures, February’s were pretty on song for the time of year and, apart from a some cool nights during January, the summer months were close to or warmer (e.g. December) than a typical summer. So there was no excuse not to wallow your wearies in the region’s magic bathing spots, which got the thumbs up in February in terms of water quality once muddied waters from the early rain slunk through.

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ENDS

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