Water cut proposal delayed for month

Press, 5 July 1985, Page 5

Water cut proposal delayed for month

A proposal that water restrictions be imposed in Heathcote County was last evening held over for a month so that the council could study the problem further. Many county residents experienced water shortages last summer. The matter was discussed at length by the council’s works and reserves committee. The County Chairman, Mr Oscar Alpers, said a plan was needed to deal with water supply problems. “We want to avoid what happened last summer, when people at the bottom of Cashmere Hill could get water but people on the top could not,” he said. One problem was inform-

ing residents about conserving water when a supply breakdown happened, Cr Gil Laurenson said. “What concerns me is how we can notify people when there is a crisis. Not everyone listens to radio during the day or reads the newspaper public notices, and so we don’t get to a lot of the residents,” he said. Cr Margaret Buchanan said that “a couple of dozen county criers to spread the news” might help. Cr Alpers took her suggestion further and said the council should consider having a vehicle with a sound system installed so that staff could drive along streets telling people to conserve water.

Suggestions to cut water supplies to people living on the flat so that water could be sent up the hills were vetoed by the County Engineer, Mr David May. “We cannot cut them off. A lot of water supply on the flats comes direct from the pumps and so there are no mains to shut off,” he said. “If we shut the pumps off to cut the water to these people, we have no water.” Cr Fred Chapman said the council “couldn’t just cut off water.” “What if there is a fire? It might be a matter of life and death,” he said. Although the council could ask people to conserve water, its staff did not have the authority to enforce restrictions, he said.