Ohakune residents demand answers after reservoir runs dry

Ohakune's reservoir had nearly run dry when residents learned of a broken water pipeline underground.

Ohakune Ratepayer and Residents Society chair Barry Murphy wants answers as to why the community was not given enough information about a major break in the pipeline, and the resulting critical drop in reservoir levels, until too late.

A Ruapehu District Council spokesman said the reservoir was at 70 percent on Friday night but had dropped to 12 percent on Saturday, when residents were informed of the issue, and "ran out" on Sunday.

"Keep in mind [it] was a very busy weekend in Ohakune with the good snow and a lot of people in town."

The town's reservoir fell to 12 percent before residents were alerted on Saturday, but had drained completely by Sunday.

Council said on Monday afternoon another 24 hours would be needed to bring the water network safely back online.

Mayor Weston Kirton had earlier said he hoped water would be restored by 5pm Monday.

However, further technical analysis found that repressurising the raw water pipeline too quickly could damage it and cause even longer delays.

Water is now expected to be restored around 5pm on Tuesday.

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Taumarunui on July 25 is thought to have damaged pipes carrying raw water to Ohakune's treatment plant.

Murphy said while natural occurrences could not be foreseen, the earthquake was two weeks ago.

"Why were no alarms going off then? Surely someone could see that the reservoir was dropping?"

Murphy, who owns an Air B&B in Ohakune and manages several others, said he woke on Sunday morning to calls from guests saying there was no water coming out of the taps, dishwashers were not running and the toilets weren't flushing.

"I searched the council's social media pages for information about a water outage but there was none, until Sunday afternoon," Murphy said.

He said the community was asking why it had been left in the dark about the extent of the problem until the reservoir was nearly empty.

"I had to contact the local radio station to ask what was going on. We're not getting the truth about what happened and there's no transparency."

Kirton said although the break was fixed on Friday, reservoir levels could not be replenished because of air blockages preventing raw water from reaching the Water Treatment Plant.

That issue was resolved by Monday afternoon. However, a slower, controlled approach was needed to protect the repaired infrastructure and safely restore the water supply.

Water tankers had been brought in to help speed up the process as much as possible.

Residents and business owners were first asked on Friday to conserve water, with no explanation provided. On Saturday, they were told by the council to stop non-essential water use and later that night, a council social media post said the break had been repaired. However, with large numbers of visitors in the tourist town, the reservoir had almost drained.

"The treatment plant is struggling to rebuild reservoir levels while meeting current demand, creating a risk that Ohakune could run out of water," the post said.

Residents were told not to flush their toilets and the council brought in water tankers, bottled drinking water and portaloos.

Murphy said his guests had been "very accepting" of the situation and those he had called to offer an opportunity to cancel had decided to go ahead with their stay.

"We've had no complaints from guests. We'll see if we get bad reviews.

"Council staff supporting the community on the ground have been good, but August is peak [visitor] season - I don't know what businesses can do if they haven't got flushing toilets and the outage is extended."

Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust (Ngāti Rangi) pou ārahi Helen Leahy said whānau would have been better prepared with earlier warnings.

"Our whānau were concerned that while the issue was identified on Thursday it wasn't until Saturday that communications first came out on social media."

The iwi had worked with the council throughout the weekend on the emergency response and to address whānau welfare.

She said Ngāti Rangi was concerned about the economic cost for motels and hospitality venues having to close without warning.

But its greatest worry was for vulnerable whānau, including kaumātua and those with specific medical needs, who might not be able to pick up water supplies.

"We are also mindful of young whānau - some who will have had to have taken leave to care for their children while schools are closed."

Leahy said the Trust had delivered pallets of water to Maungārongo Marae and central distribution points, and visited homes to check on how people were coping.

Kirton said water services contractor Veolia had brought in additional staff and resources from Whanganui, Auckland and Central Hawke's Bay to help.

Residents have been asked to turn off taps on their properties while the network is being restored.

"This has been an extremely technical and challenging situation. We have been working to keep the community fully informed as new information becomes available, but the situation and expected restoration time have continued to evolve as work has progressed," a council statement said.

Emergency water supplies and portaloos remain available.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.