Tamworth’s cup could soon runneth over, as Chaffey Dam looks set to break its all-time capacity record.
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According to Tamworth Regional Council water and waste director Bruce Logan, Chaffey was at 57.2 per cent on Friday morning, with a significant milestone just around the the corner.
Mr Logan told The Leader there is about 60,000 megaliters sitting in Chaffey, an amount not seen since November 10, 2012.
“60,000 megalitres is about 97 per cent of the old Chaffey capacity,” Mr Logan said.
“Once the volume hits about 62,000 megalitres, the dam will head into uncharted waters.”
Sixty-two per cent capacity will be a record breaking moment for the augmented dam, surpassing what would have been 100 per cent before augmentation.
And with significant rainfall on the radar, all eyes will be on the dam’s levels as it creeps towards a huge milestone.
“Assuming the forecast is correct, it could be in the next week,” Mr Logan said.
“Some forecasts are predicting up to 50mm in the coming days.”
With Chaffey set to break its capacity record, Mr Logan also said tightening water restrictions may not need to be considered this year.
“In the unlikely event there’s no more rain, I can’t see us tightening restrictions this calendar year,” Mr Logan said.
Tamworth moved to permanent conservation measures on August 11 after Chaffey surged past 50 per cent.
And it may be a while before residents go back to level one restrictions, with the trigger pulled at 40 per cent capacity, some 20,000 megalitres away.
Mr Logan said, over the last week, the region’s residents had been using about 16.3 megalitres per day – only marginally higher than the council’s target water consumption in level five emergency conditions of 16.1 megalitres.
Elsewhere, Keepit Dam has continued its remarkable resurgence, sitting at 49.2 per cent, while Copeton is holding 29.7 per cent and Split Rock is sitting on 11.1 per cent, according to WaterNSW data recorded on September 1.