ORC Director Resource Management Dr Selva Selvarajah said dry conditions since November had put many Otago river catchments at or below their minimum flow levels, which meant resource consent holders had stopped or were now rostering their water use.

“The Shag River has fallen below its minimum flow of 150 litres/second (l/sec) and water users should no longer be taking water. As of this afternoon the Shag River is at 83 l/sec at Craig Road. It is likely that some reaches of the Shag River below Dunback are dry,” Dr Selvarajah said.

The Kakanui River has reached very low levels. This afternoon the Mill Dam and McCones flow sites were recording flows of 283 l/sec and 240 l/sec respectively. The minimum flow for both these sites is 250 l/sec. Now that the level at McCones has fallen below the minimum flow all irrigation must cease and Council will enforce the 400 l/sec bounce back condition (flows must be at or above 400 l/sec before abstraction can recommence).

“Water allocation from the Kakanui is managed by the Kakanui Water Allocation Committee which has been advised of the situation in the catchment,” he said.

The Waianakarua River at Browns Pump is running at 123 l/sec and some water take consents must now cease operation. Those that don’t have minimum flow restrictions must manage their water conservatively and observe the current minimum flow given the water shortage that is taking place.

The Taieri River is at 772 l/sec at Waipiata and has fallen below the minimum flow of 1 cumec (1,000 litres/second) The Taieri at Tiroiti is running at 930 l/sec and at Outram it is at 2.40 cumecs, just below the minimum flow level of 2.5 cumecs, while at Sutton it is running at 1.2 cumecs below the minimum flow of 1.25 cumecs.