Public pools could close, sports fields shut, and businesses could be forced to slash their output by 40 percent if Auckland's water crisis continues to worsen.
It's part of Auckland Council's worst-case scenario planning that's becoming more likely to be enacted.
To stop that from happening the council has applied to take an extra 200 million litres of water a day from the Waikato River.
And after waiting seven years, the council is pushing to have the consent fast-tracked under new legislation designed to help the economy recover from COVID-19.
"Nobody wants to see this city run short on water," Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said. "Nobody wants to see more jobs lost after COVID-19 because we can't provide water."
But there is strong and vocal opposition from the guardians of the river and local iwi.
"It's an attempt to circumvent due process and possibly, some might argue, circumvent democracy," said Roger Pikia of the Waikato River Authority.
Auckland already draws 150 million litres from the river and the council says without the extra allocation the city will be forced into drastic restrictions.
But that's falling on deaf ears.
"You're not going to take this water," Waikato Regional Council chair Russ Rimmington told The AM Show on Tuesday. "We need it desperately.
"We're doing backflips - we've helped in every possible way to get water to Auckland. You've got major problems with Watercare and they should be taken to task."
But with dam levels only at 45 percent capacity - compared to 78 percent normally - this is a very real crisis that's about to get worse. It might be strange to say but this is the problem: simply too much sunshine with more on the horizon. It's predicted spring will be 25 percent drier than normal.
That comes on the back of two record-breaking droughts in the past 18 months.
"We're in real trouble in the region from a rainfall accumulation point of view," MetService forecaster Georgina Griffiths said.
"I am an Aucklander that has lived here all my life - and [been] a forecaster all my life - I have not seen that before."
