Drinking water information

What's the go with drinking water across Tasman? For the majority, there are no issues with your drinking water and you don't need to boil or conserve it. However there are a few townships with boil water notices and two conserve water notices in place.

Tapawera is the only council water supply currently on a temporary boil water notice, plus there are permanent boil water notices in place for Dovedale, Eighty Eight Valley and Redwoods 1 and 2. There are also conserve water notices in place for Eighty Eight Valley and Redwoods 1 (Golden Hills).

We also recommend that anyone who has been affected by flooding and has a private bore as their water supply, boil their water for the time being – especially if you are in the Motueka area.

If you are not on one of these five council water supplies, or do not have a private bore, then you do not need to boil your water.

Monday updates on specific water supplies with issues:

Tapawera: We are beginning to see improvements in the source water quality at the treatment plant, although it has not yet returned to normal. While the chlorine and UV treatment processes are operational, they are currently unable to effectively treat the water leaving the plant. Once we observe further improvements, we will carry out water sampling at the plant and within the distribution to ensure the water is safe to drink before lifting the boil water notice. This sampling will take place over several days, and all results must be clear of bacteria before the boil water is lifted.

Eighty Eight Valley: With the improved weather and receding water levels, we are now able to investigate the cause of the reduce water flow to the treatment plant and address any pipeline breaks. This process will take some time, so we ask residents to continue conserving water as we are not yet supplying water from the reservoirs to your property. A permanent boil water notice is also in place for this scheme.

Dovedale: The conserve water notice is now lifted however while the power issue has been resolved, the treatment plant only began operating again yesterday following clearance of the silt and debris. Full restoration of supply throughout the network is unlikely for another day or two due to pipeline airlocks. Crews are working to resolve these issues today and tomorrow. A permanent boil water notice is also in place for this scheme.

Redwoods 1 (Golden Hills): A short-term conserve notice has recently been put in place while a minor issue at the treatment plant is resolved. Residents may notice their tanks are not filling however it is expected that normal supply will be resumed this afternoon.

Useful links

Taumata Arowai: Drinking water following a flood | Taumata Arowai(external link)

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora (which includes other languages):  Floods and health(external link)

Emergency Management Update Monday 12pm

Thank you to everyone who has offed to help!  

The best way to help right now is to donate to the Mayoral Fund, which will help residents to access funds to deal with issues in the immediate term. Get the details here. 

If you have items to donate, please hold onto these for now, and if they are needed, we'll update here. 

There are a few local Facebook pages set up for volunteer support such as https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1QsXCH8eAe/(external link)

Returning home after a significant flood event can be a very emotional and distressing time as your home may not look the same. If you need any support please contact TDC on 03 543 8400. 

 Fire Emergency NZ

* Please stay out of flood water

* Clear drains and gutters. 

* If you can stay home, please stay home

 NZ Police:

* There are a lot of local road closures still in place. We cannot have a team positioned at all closures, we need to trust in the community to not try to drive through these closures. They are in place for your safety. 

 NZTA:

* Rocks Road remains closed. 

* SH6 at Kohatu remains closed.

Updates will be provided when available. 

 Iwi:

* A rahui is in place across the whole region including Nelson coastlines. This will be in place for the next six days. The rahui prevents the gathering of seafood and kai in these areas as well as swimming and entering the water.

 Communications: 

* Cellular towers are still patchy in Wakefield, Murchison and St Arnaud, Starlink units have been sent to these communities. 

 Tasman Harbourmaster:

* Tasman Harbourmaster has identified a lot of debris around the coast and is encouraging people to not clear or salvage this debris and to not take boats out.

 Motueka Information Centre: 

* A Civil Defence Centre information centre is open today at the Motueka Rec Centre. 9am to 5pm. 

 Animals: 

* If you have any animal welfare concerns, please contact MPI 0800 008 333 or Top of the South Rural Support 0800 787 254

Weather event clean up

Tasman District Council is aware of damage to property and the extensive clean-up required in certain places, and has implemented the below process for disposal of flood damaged materials.

  • Take photos of all your flood damage before you start the clean-up, remember to include a photo of the highwater mark
  • Please get in contact with your insurance company as soon as possible, to lodge your claim and get the claims process started
  • If your property is flood damaged, your insurer may arrange for a contractor to strip our damaged material to support drying. As part of that work the contractor will remove damaged building material.
  • Any damaged material as a result of the weather event can be taken to the Council Resource Recovery Centre for assessment to determine whether Council will cover the cost of disposal.
  • We’ll need to know your contact details, your insurance company (if applicable), where the material has come from and confirmation that it’s flood related waste. We may need to take photos of the waste.
  • If you are not able to transport your material to a Resource Recovery Centre, then please call Council and we will look at getting a contractor to collect the material. Please don’t put material on the roadside, as this makes it difficult and more expensive to manage.
  • Keep yourself safe when cleaning up –
    • Stay out of badly damaged buildings.
    • If your property has been flooded, turn off the power. Don’t turn it back on until it has been checked by an electrician.
    • Avoid wading through flood water.
    • Wear gloves, masks and protective gear where available.
    • If you come into contact with flood water, wash your clothes, shoes and skin afterwards.
    • Take extra care on the road.
    • Do not try to drive flooded vehicles as their brakes and electrics may be faulty.
    • Your insurance company will have clean up guidance that can support you.  

You can get more information on cleaning up after the event here:
https://www.ifso.nz/pages/natural-disasters-after-the-event(external link)

Dump locations in Tasman.

CDEM visits

Civil Defence teams will visiting rural properties in the Mouteka Valley, Tapawera, Motupiko and Tapawera from today.

The purpose of the visit is an initial assessment of property needs, separate from accommodation needs, to gauge the level of support that may be required to restore the productive and environmental capability of the property.

The information will be used to inform the application for, and distribution of, any national and regional support made available. It will be confidential.

If the team doesn’t make it to you personally over the coming days, please email us on ruralassessment@ntem.govt.nz

MPI information and resources available here(external link)

Emergency Management information
Road closures 

We are re-opening roads where possible. Changes will be  updated on this map(external link). 

Please drive with care at all times.

State Highway closures:

For latest updates visit the Waka Kotahi NZTA travel map(external link).

Previous information from Friday 27 June

State of emergency declared in the Tasman region. 

Get the latest updates from Nelson Tasman CDEM here(external link).

Civil Defence Centres

  • A Civil Defence centre has been set up at Motueka Recreation Centre.
Boil water notice for Tapawera Water supply

Read the details here.

District wide conserve water notice

The heavy rain event has affected the quality of the source water supplying some Tasman District Council water supplies. In some cases our treatment plants may not be able to adequately treat this low quality water if the rain continues. In addition, the rainfall may cause damage and power outages that could affect our ability to supply water.

We ask all customers on Council water supplies conserve water wherever possible until further notice.

Reducing demand will help ensure that we do not have to  supply water that may not have received adequate treatment and that we have sufficient water in storage reservoirs to continue supply if damage or other issues occur.

Golden Bay Service Centre closed

The Service Centre in Tākaka is closed today (Friday) due flooding preventing staff from getting there. Also, we have been having issues with our phone lines, so if you can't get hold of us that way, send us a report via Antenno or email info@tasman.govt.nz – the teams are monitoring these channels. Apologies for the inconvenience. 

Motueka and Tākaka Libraries closed

Motueka Te Noninga Kumu and Tākaka Libraries are closed today due to the floods and staff unable to get to work. 

eBus information 

Due to flooding today in Belgrove, Wakefield, Brightwater, the Motueka and Wakefield services are currently suspended until further notice.

Due to the 3 Brothers corner being flooded, we are having to terminate and start the route 2 buses at Richmond Interchange.

Stafford Drive at the Ruby Bay Cliffs will remain closed over the weekend until sometime on Monday after a geotechnical assessment is complete. This means the Ruby Bay bus stops will be closed Monday morning and the Route 5 eBus will travel into Māpua and Tasman Village via SH60.

Murchison

  • There is a Spark cellular outage affecting Murchison and  the surrounding area.
  • Murchison Hospital is offline and can’t receive calls.

Motueka Resource Recovery Centre

The Motueka RRC at Mariri is currently closed due to slips and blockages. 

Moturoa/Rabbit Island

Moturoa/Rabbit Island and Rough Island are now open again. Caution is required within the reserve areas due to some large areas of ponded water, which may take quite some time to drain away.

Sportsfields closed

All sportsfields are closed and will remain so for the weekend.

Other information

Please stay out of Kingsland Forest Park, Dellside Reserve, and Jimmy Lee Reserve in Richmond today due to the wet weather impacting tracks and the wider area, the team need time to access conditions.

You can find some useful information at:

Remember - If you are concerned about your immediate safety then please call 111 for assistance.