DRY SPELL IN NORTH

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29101, 13 January 1960, Page 10

DRY SPELL IN NORTH

Water Short In Some Towns

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, January 12.

The long spell of hot, sunny weather which delighted holiday crowds at .Christmas and New Year is threatening to cause serious water shortages in some towns north of Wellington. Water is running short in Paekakariki and parts of Paraparaumu where there has been no appreciable rainfall since early December.

The Hutt County Council has reminded residents of restrictions on hosing gardens.

“If the dry weather continues for a week the drought conditions could become serious,” said an area engineer of the Hutt County Council tonight. Some Paraparaumu people who rely on water tanks for supply have been buying water from contractors.

Wellington, which enjoys the security of the Hutt river scheme, is in a “quite satisfactory position,” a member of the city engineer’s department said tonight. Water consumption at Palmerston North on Monday set a record of nearly six million gallons. This was beyond the capacity of the city council's filtration plant and the filter plant was by-passed and unfiltered water was fed into the system. At Bulls, water is short and householders who normally rely on the rain to • replenish their tanks are expecting to have to cart water soon.

In New Plymouth tonight an Agriculture Department official said difficulties could arise unless rain fell fairly soon, and the dry weather would put a halt to what could be a highly successful season. The situation had become most critical in the sandy coastal strips and in inland areas in the vicinity of Tarata.