As much-needed rain is forecast to arrive over the next week, Auckland’s dam levels have dropped below 60 per cent.

Watercare said today the low levels in the water supply catchments in the Hūnua and Waitākere Ranges have experienced the driest March since 2010.

Auckland’s total storage in its water supply dams is 59.7 per cent on Wednesday, compared to the historical average of 74.8 per cent for this time of year.

Watercare head of water Sharon Danks says the catchments received less than a third of normal rainfall for March.

“Our Hūnua Ranges catchments, where we have our largest dams, received only 29 millimetres of rain in March, where normally we’d expect to see about 110mm.

“In west Auckland, the Waitākere dam catchments received just 28.5mm in March, compared to the historical average of 108mm.

“We haven’t seen a March this dry since 2010, so we’re again urging Aucklanders to be mindful of their water use, particularly outdoors.”

Danks says news that the North Island can expect rain over Thursday and Friday is welcome.

“It’s great news that there’s rain coming in the next few days.

“But given the dry weather we’ve experienced for several months now the soil is incredibly dry and we expect it to absorb a lot of that rain.

“We’re not expecting a significant uplift to Auckland’s dam levels.

“With the forecast for rain, we’re asking Aucklanders to please turn off any irrigation systems today so you’re not watering your gardens unnecessarily.”

Auckland councillor Richard Hills, the policy and planning committee chair, says: “Watercare is keeping us well informed on the situation.

“They’re fixing leaks in record time and their water savings messages are working well.

“But we’re relying on all Aucklanders to help out by reporting leaks and continuing to prevent water wastage. If we all do our bit, we can make a huge difference.”

Auckland remains in the “preparing for drought” zone in Watercare’s Drought Management Plan.

Danks says Watercare is doing everything possible to slow the rate of decline in the dams and reduce the likelihood of mandatory water restrictions.

“We’ve increased production at our two Waikato plants to 200 million litres of water a day. This means we can reduce production at our Ardmore and Huia water treatment plants and ease a bit of pressure on the water supply dams.

“This week we also opened our new non-potable water filling station, which allows commercial customers to use untreated bore water for things like dust suppression or stormwater network flushing.

“It’s great to have this facility available so that we’re not using Auckland’s high-quality drinking water when it’s not needed.”

Auckland’s seven-day average water demand is currently 472m litres a day.

“We still want to see Auckland’s water use come down further – and any rain that comes in the next few days will likely play a part in that,” Danks says.

“Even if you’re not out watering your garden, you can do your bit to help by simply taking a shorter shower.

“If we all cut our shower times by just one minute, we’d save about 20m litres of water a day.”

If Auckland’s water demand stays at present levels, and there’s little rain over April and May, Watercare may need to implement water restrictions in early June, it says.

• Aucklanders can keep an eye on dam levels, get water conservation tips and learn more about water restrictions at www.watercare.co.nz.