March 06, 2020
Iwi offer help as Northland water crisis deepens
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Ngapuhi chair Mere Mangu says the drought in Northland has highlighted the need for resolution of Māori rights and interests in water.
With the region looking for alternate sources of water for the main towns, Māori trusts and iwi have stepped up and offered supply from bores on their land.
She says that has raised questions about the way the councils have allocated water from the aquifers in the past.
“The weather’s not keeping it filled up so we’ve got to have a long hard look at how our resource consents are being divvied out,” Ms Mangu says.
New water restrictions were imposed on large parts of the Whangarei and Far North districts yesterday.
All non-essential use of water from bores springs streams and lakes are banned in those areas, including irrigation, watering gardens, car and boat washing, water blasting and filling swimming and spa pools.
There are also growing concerns that aquifers could dry up or be rendered undrinkable by saltwater intruding from the sea.
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