The Tasman District Council plans to impose stage-one water restrictions on the Waimea Plains from Monday.
Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
Its dry-weather taskforce said the Wairoa and Waimea rivers had dropped because of dry conditions and higher water demand
Tasman District Council spokesperson Dennis Bush-King said stage-one rationing would be introduced for urban users and most users on the plains.
The restriction will mean a 20 percent cut in water allocated under consent.
Mr Bush-King said the Wai-iti zone in Wakefield was also very dry, but water would be released from the Kainui Dam from Friday.
A minimum of 50 millimetres of rain was needed to ease the dry conditions, he said.