Unprecedented water shortages in Wellington

These are some of my comments from Facebook about this:

It seems to me that, rather than acknowledge the truth that we are facing abrupt climate change that has little to do with el-Nino or la-Nina the authorities and media are resorting to the BIG LIE and are now saying that conditions that are likely to surpass the el-Nino of two years ago are because of the la-Nina.

What shit is this?! La Nina is known to produce COOLER and WETTER conditions.

Instead this is like an el-Nino on steroids. The Hutt 

River is as bereft of water as it ever has been and NEVER at the end of spring.

“Places like Greymouth, Mount Cook, Arthur's Pass ... places in Canterbury like Lincoln, which is tracking for its second driest month overall since records began in 1881."

“Mr Noll said the dry weather was set to continue BECAUSE OF” La Nina conditions.”

The authorities will NEVER come clean on this and continue to peddle lies.

This is what was written about what to expect from a la- Nina.

“It means we just have to look at what is currently happening to get an idea as to what a La Nina summer in New Zealand will look like. In bullet points here is what New Zealanders can (very generally) expect:

• Slight warmer sea temperatures
• Cloudier weather, especially coastal areas
• Higher risk for afternoon showers, especially inland
• Wetter than average for many North Island and some western and northern South Island areas.
• An uptick in easterlies
• A slight increase in an ex-cyclone passing by New Zealand or directly impacting New Zealand
• Generally warm & possibly more humid

Basically many areas have already been experiencing similar conditions. For drought affected Canterbury La Nina can drive in more easterlies (good for getting moisture in to your area) and also an increase in spillover rain from West Coast events. At this stage nothing to indicate a major turn around in the weather pattern over the South Island. Remember this La Nina is considered to be weak.”

Well, well. It seems they’re making things up as they go.

Wellington water woes 'unheard of' this time of year

The Wellington region's emergency water supply has already been tapped into, as rivers dry out in an unusually warm and dry start to summer.

Wellington Water said just over 6 percent of the water stored in the Te Marua storage lakes had been used to top up the region's regular supply.

Community engagement manager Alex van Passen said it was important the water in the storage lakes lasted all summer.

"What's been really unusual about this summer so far is it's just so early for us to have been tapping into our lake supply, it's just unheard of really for us to be using lake water to supplement that river and aquifer supply in November."

Mr van Passen said water use had dropped to 161 million litres a day, and if it stayed at that level, the lakes should last until the end of summer.

He said during the Christmas holiday period water demand usually dropped off, and some ground could be gained supply-wise during that time.

But he said restrictions on water use were expected to stay in place.

Wellington Water's manager of treatment plant operations Jeremy McKibbin said there had been a drop in water usage on Friday.

He said if people continued to be careful with their water there was no reason there would be a total ban on using water outdoors.

A sprinkler ban was put in place in the past week, but people could still water their gardens with a hose.

Dry in Canterbury

Fire and Emergency officers are asking people in Christchurch and the Selwyn district to make sure their properties are fire-safe, after the driest November on record.

A Christchurch weather station that has been running since 1864 recorded only 1.4 millimetres of rain in November.

It was even drier in Lincoln, which got only four-tenths of a millimetre.

The principal rural fire officer for the area, Darrin Woods, said a restricted fire season will be declared next week.

He said they hadn't seen a month with such little rainfall since probably December 2003.

Darrin Woods said people should clear vegetation around their homes and mow lawns in the morning - when it is coolest - to prevent the risk of sparks from mower blades starting fires.