Dry grounds creating near unplayable conditions for the Valley Sports Club at Weston this summer could be changed if a proposed 40m bore at the Weston Domain finds a reliable water source.
The Waitaki District Council could approve $30,000 for installing the bore in its 2016-17 annual plan deliberations at today's extraordinary council meeting in council chambers in Oamaru.
The council was unaware until this year there was an unrestricted system in place at the grounds in Weston, which was on a restricted system, council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said.
The council, however, had an unrestricted connection at the Weston Domain when it was installed "in the distant past''.
"Obviously, we needed to rectify that and a restrictor was put on that as a start,'' he said.
Unbeknown to the council, the sports club had been irrigating the playing field, an action which did not comply with the council's standards.
"When they put the restrictors on it, [the use] became obvious,'' he said.
Mr van der Spek said the misuse of the water at Weston was "no fault on the club''.
"Basically, they were doing what they thought they could do,'' he said.
He said the recommendation before the council was made in the hope there would be enough water at 40m for the club to use. A deeper bore, to 100m, which would cost up to $150,000, was not recommended.
The Valley Sports Club captain Don Roney said the bore, a council suggestion, would be welcomed. The council had done work to fix "real drainage issues in the past'', but as the drought continued this summer, "the grounds were dangerous''.
"If we have a dry period, which is more the case than not, we're going to have ground issues. It's a health and safety issue, we feel,'' Mr Roney said.
"This year in particular, when we had two months of no rain, the grounds were getting pretty close to the unplayable stage. There were kids getting hurt.''
In its submission to the council, the club stated it was "one of the biggest clubs in North Otago''. There were 465 users at the Weston Domain, including 210 pupils at Weston School.
Weston Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Bevan Koppert said yesterday he supported the bore installation.
There was only one fire hydrant, at the Charles St end of the grounds, "anywhere near those buildings'' at the domain.
In rural areas, finding access to water was "always a key concern''.
"If we can get water nearer to a situation, it's got to be an asset to us,'' he said.
