SERIOUS DROUGHT IN ASHBURTON COUNTY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28754, 27 November 1958, Page 6

SERIOUS DROUGHT IN ASHBURTON COUNTY

The Ashburton County is at present experiencing one of its worst droughts fol- many years. With no appreciable rain for almost two months, warm north-westerly winds, and temperatures soaring into the eighties and nineties, the unirrigated districts are rapidly becoming bare of pasture.

Not only are the rural areas affected, but the town is also. There is a serious shortage of water in the borough, and to relieve this critical position, the Ashburton Borough Council has imposed new and more severe restrictions on hosing.

South of the Ashburton river, and east of the main railway, the 1 position is worst. Grass seed crops are being fed to stock, and this I will seriously affect the amount of hay that is normally harvested at this time of the year. Lucerne crops which have already been cut, are not showing any signs of recovering.

The irrigated lands are also ! fairly short of feed, but sheep are I not losing condition so far. Many ; lambs however, are being drafted las light-weights.

. There has been an increasing * demand for irrigation water in i the six schemes in the Ashburton (district, and already this season, i 20 per cent, more water has been ! used than in the entire irrigation I period last year.

Because of the low winter rainfall, a big demand has existed since the beginning of the season. The seriousness of the continued dry period is illustrated by the figures of the total number ot farmers making use of water during the last two weeks. In the week ended Sunday last, the largest number of irrigators ! this season made use of water. A total of 124 irrigators took water, (with a maximum of 56 in a 24hour period. This is believed to be the largest number which can be supplied in one day.

Water Shortage i Yesterday, some parts of the •borough were without water. The (supply had dwindled to a mere 'trickle in many other areas later in the day, but Allenton remained the most severely affected. An urgent request to Ashburton residents to turn their hoses off if the fire alarm is sound, was made yesterday by the borough engineer <Mr J. S. Houston). If residents were using their hoses during the prescribed periods, and the firebell was sounded, they should turn off their (hoses immediately, to allow the (fire brigade to use all the water (that was available, he said.

“On Tuesday night, no water 'was available in Allenton—not even for drinking—and that, of course, meant that there was no water for fire fighting purposes, which is our prime concern at the moment," said Mr Houston.

! Mr Houston said, that the water • level in the well at the power • station was too low to feed more than one pump. Pump C at the :Farm road pumping station which developed a faulty motor last Sat- ; urday, has been operating on a temporary motor and has been ; functioning only during hosing hours.

However, a permanent motor was installed yesterday afternoon i and it is hoped that this will case! the position to some extent, but ! stringent restrictions on the usvi of water will still be necessary fulsome time to come. “No water at all was available] at Allenton this morning and the supply in other parts of the borough was extremely poor.” said Mr Houston. “The available pumps are just not able to cope with the j demand.” I Mr Houston said that one of the(factors about the acute shortage (was that many people were hos-

ing out of hours and taking little notice of the restrictions that have been enforced. “Perhaps the imposition of the new restrictions and the fact that many people have been without drinking water will bring home to the consumers that the position is desperate and that the tank on the water tower is near enough to empty,” he said.

Until the demand for water drops by an appreciable extent, there is little chance of the supply from the tank and the pressure in the mains building up. The new hosing periods were announced by Mr Houston yesterday morning and arc as follows:

West side. Tuesday. Thursday and Saturday 6- a.m. to 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

East side, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The effect of the amended hosing restrictions is that the previous hosing periods have been reduced by half.

"These restrictions will be rigidly enforced and persons committing breaches of this notice by hosing during prohibited hours will be liable to prosecution.” Mr Houston said.