Hawkes Bay Drought 2013

We've had a great summer this year just like the ones I remember as a kid. Days and days of blinding heat, sometimes up to 40oC, followed by nights where you took the electric fan to bed for relief. Unfortunately with six months of below average rainfall has come "The Drought".

Over my back fence this was six weeks ago.

Despite being hand watered every alternate day my garden is dying. I've lost my "French Lace" rose, "Apple Blossom Flower Carpet" wants to turn up her roots and "Margaret Merrill" is looking pretty seedy. The only advantage to the drought it that the garden has never been so weed free. But it's the animals who are really suffering. Good farmers are feeding out good hay but the couldn't care less variety are leaving their stock in tree free paddocks filled with nothing but manure occasionally throwing out some black pea straw.

Hard to tell what condition these sheep are in under their wool

Those in favour of the Ruataniwha Water Project (the immensely expensive dam proposed for Tikokino) are citing this drought as a great reason for building Central Hawkes Bay's very own Think Big Project. Yet the small farmer would not gain much from this since the cost of paying water rights has been suggested at ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 a day. This could mean only the big boys could afford to pay for accessing it- the same farmers who irrigate in the heat of the day so that 70% of the water evaporates. The same farmers who have pulled out all the shelter belts and trees on their farms to allow the massive irrigation booms to move across an increasingly barren landscape. 

The view from my back door at sunrise

Lets not forget that there will be an increase in dairy farms in the area leading to more pollution being poured into Central Hawkes Bay rivers. Considering it is not safe to swim in the TukiTuki River now it is easy to imagine what will happen with increased run off making its way down into our once pristine waterways. Building smaller dams around the district would be much more likely to help the small farmers who are struggling to survive in this drought. One which looks like it will not be ending soon.