Drought conditions have returned to the Tasman District, which is set to impose water restrictions from Monday.
Council dry weather taskforce convenor Dennis Bush-King said with no significant rain forecast for the next couple of weeks, 20 percent cuts will be placed on growers in several areas of the Waimea Plains.
It follows extreme conditions before Christmas when the district faced its driest early summer in decades.
Mr Bush-King said the urban water supply was holding up, but people needed to conserve water.
He said the taskforce would meet again next Tuesday to review the situation.
Meanwhile the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board is advising people who rely on rain for household water supply to buy water from registered suppliers only when topping up tanks.
