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The small amount of rain that fell over the Christmas-New Year period has made very little difference to river flows in the Canterbury area, according to Environment Canterbury.
Surface water science manager Tim Davies, says that river flows around the region remain low, with continued dry weather looking set to continue.
"Alpine rivers have been higher from earlier nor-west rain but they are now starting to drop away," he says.
"River flows from Ashburton State Highway 1 south to the Waihao River are low with most rivers on restriction. Flows have been dropping over the past week but with no significant rainfall forecast these rivers may well start to drop into 'Very low' conditions."
Water restrictions are in effect in South Canterbury with the Mackenzie District Council placing restrictions on residents in Twizel and Fairlie Kimbell. Restrictions are also in place for the Timaru District Council area.
A Water Shortage Direction for the Opihi River and its tributaries – which includes the Opuha River and Lake Opuha – expired on 30 December 2014. This means the flow rate for the Opihi River at Saleyards Bridge can now be reduced to 3500 litres per second as per the Opihi River Regional Plan, but it is currently flowing at 5500 litres per second.
Environment Canterbury is advising irrigators to refer to their restrictions web page to make sure they are not breaching their consents and taking their water allocations either above the allowable amount or when a surface water body is on partial or full restriction.
For current river flow information go to www.ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/monitoring/river-flows/Pages/River-flows-south.aspx
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