Good rainfall up river has eased water restriction in Manilla.
GOOD RAINFALL
TWO weeks after level-one water restrictions were rolled out in Manilla, they have been rolled back.
Rain after the Australia Day long weekend provided a much needed prop-up to the town’s water supply.
Originally Tamworth Regional Council announced the restrictions – which limited the use of sprinklers and hoses – would come into play on January 26 after the level of the Namoi River weir dropped.
As a result of the front that flowed down from tropical cyclone Oswald – which caused devastating flooding in Queensland and parts of northern NSW – the water level in the weir rose.
“Level-one restrictions are applied when the flow at the Namoi River weir drops under 10 megalitres per day – and happily good rainfall means there is now plenty of water in the Namoi River and tomorrow Manilla will return to the lowest level of restrictions,” council’s water enterprises director Bruce Logan said.
“On Tuesday there were 193 megalitres of water flowing in the Namoi River at Cuerindi Weir, which is upstream of the Namoi River weir, and on Thursday there were 344 megalitres.
“The increased flows look to be fairly stable and so the decision could be made to relax the water restrictions for Manilla.”
From today all parts of the Tamworth region will be on the lowest level of restrictions.
Under permanent water restrictions, there are three main constraints to remember:
n Sprinklers can only be used mornings or evenings – this means before 8am or after 6pm during daylight saving time, and before 9am or after 4pm the rest of the year;
n Always use a pressure cleaner on hard surfaces – this includes washing down driveways and verandahs, and these pressure cleaners should use no more than nine litres per minute; and
n Use a hand-held trigger nozzle when watering gardens and washing vehicles – these fit to the end of your hose and shut off water flow when the trigger is released.
For more information on water restrictions visit www.tamworth. nsw.gov.au/water or call council’s customer service team on 1300 733 625.
