MEDIA RELEASE

3 February 2015

Water Shortage Direction notice for Taieri withdrawn

A Water Shortage Direction covering the entire Taieri River, which was to have taken effect from midday tomorrow, has been withdrawn following heavy overnight rainfall.

ORC chief executive Peter Bodeker said river levels at three key measuring sites – Waipiata, Tiroiti, and Sutton, were all edging above minimum flows and were expected to rise further this week with more rain forecast to keep flows stable.

“This recent rain has alleviated our immediate concerns about low river flows in the area,” Mr Bodeker said.

“As a result, we expect the Taieri River will record several days of flow above the minimum flow, and this water is available for irrigation,” he said.

“I am appreciative of the farmers throughout Otago who have been rostering and rationing water. We are encouraged that they will continue with this approach to help the river’s recovery and maintain levels at or above its minimum flow.”

Mr Bodeker said maintaining the river at or about the minimum flow was important and staff would be monitoring the flows constantly. Restrictions could be applied if the flows fell below the minimum flow requirement.

Between midday and 1pm today the Taieri at Sutton was running at 1272 l/s, above the minimum flow of 1250 l/s; at Tiroiti 1143 l/s, just above the minimum flow of 1100 l/s; and at Waipiata it was 1022 l/s, just above the minimum flow of 1000 l/s.

“While this recent rainfall is welcome, we are not out of the woods yet, and water conservation is still very important,” Mr Bodeker said.

Up-to-date information on the state of the Taieri and other Otago rivers is available from the ORC website at: http://water.orc.govt.nz or from the water info line on 0800 426 463.

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