It may seem strange given all the rain that we had, but we could potentially be heading into a long, dry summer. Whether you rely on the town water supply or your own water source, the best way to prepare for any potential drought is to have a plan, harvest rainwater and think about water conservation in our daily lives.

Council will be putting regular communications on this topic in the Bush Telegraph and online. Building resilience in our communities and individual lives is essential and there is plenty we can all do.

Here are some examples:

Stay Informed
Keep yourself informed about the situation, and any changes in water conservation recommendations through regular updates via social media, and local news.

Did you know?
MPI and NIWA have launched a super useful tool to help predict drought conditions more accurately, and you can filter right down to your area. Check it out!

Report Leaks
Now is the time to get on top of leaks. If you are on the town water supply please report any water leaks or issues in public areas promptly to council. Council will continue to place a high priority on repairing water leaks.

If you would like to report a leak in the streets and/or public spaces, please call our friendly customer service team. You can also send us a message on Facebook or email. Please make sure to provide details about the locations. You can also use Antenno, the handy reporting app which is free to download.

Fix leaks
Check out this article and infographic how to fix leaks

Building resilience for dry weather conditions | Tararua District Council (tararuadc.govt.nz)

Did you know? In case of emergencies make sure that you have enough water for at least three days or more. That means at least nine litres of water for every person. This will be enough for drinking and basic hygiene.

Having a plan in place for feeding your animals

• Plan for feeding your stock over the coming months.
• Be aware you may have extra stock to feed due to slower processing times at some meat processing plants.
• Book the required stock slaughter well in advance with your agent or meat processor.
• Look to increase supply of feed or reduce animal demand.
• If buying feed – act early. Order supplementary feed now while some is available.

There are some really great resources for planning for a dry summer, including developing a feed budget:

• Ministry for Primary Industries:  Dealing with drought conditions | NZ Government (mpi.govt.nz)
• Dairy NZ: Setting up for summer - DairyNZ | DairyNZ
• Beef and Lamb NZ: Drought resources | Beef + Lamb New Zealand (beeflambnz.com)
• Feedsmart Calculator: FeedSmart: sheep and cattle feed and allocation calculator

Did you know? There are 635 properties in our district with water meters? Many of them are extraordinary water users. For those with water meters here is a quick guide to help you fix leaks: