LEVEL 1 water restrictions will be enforced in Tamworth from Monday, January 14.
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Chaffey Dam has plummeted in recent weeks, with the city guzzling more than 39 megalitres a day and extreme heat baking the region.
On Monday, Chaffey was recorded at 39.3 per cent capacity and, at this rate, level 2 restrictions could be introduced within a month.
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The trigger point for level 1 restrictions in Tamworth is when Chaffey hits 40 per cent capacity, but Tamworth Regional Council’s director of water and waste, Bruce Logan, said unfortunate timing had prevented restrictions from being imposed sooner.
“It’s just unfortunate about the timing of when Chaffey fell below 40 per cent,” he said.
“That is in a period between Christmas and New Year, so there wasn’t many staff at the organisation in that period.
“There are some processes we have to go through to get authority to introduce those restrictions and advertise they are going to be in place and when they are going to start.”
Level 1 effectively limits the use of fixed sprinklers in town to two hours a day between 6pm and 8pm.
However, the council’s goal for daily water consumption is almost half the current level of usage.
“We’re seeing around 39 megalitres used every day; what we are targeting with level 1 introduced is hopefully a reduction to around 20 to 25 megalitres a day,” Mr Logan said.
The council has reined in its water use in recent years, maintaining its sporting fields and some of its parks with groundwater rather than drinking supplies.
Council sustainability co-ordinator Tracey Carr said there were more projects on the horizon.
“We are looking at … any of our facilities we can upgrade to be more water-efficient with things like dual-flush toilets, sensor taps; they actually save quite a remarkable amount of water over time, particularly at places like AELEC and TRECC,” Ms Carr said.
“As long as we can show there will be a decrease in our use of treated water, then we will be looking at implementing those sorts of projects.”
While level 1 restrictions effectively only limit the use of sprinklers, Ms Carr said there were plenty of ways for residents to be more sustainable.
“It’s all the usual things: look at shorter shower times, only run your dishwasher when you’ve got a full load,” she said.
“It’s very sensible things you can do at any time regardless of the restriction levels.”
Ms Carr said the council’s water sustainability officer, Ian Lobban, was available to help guide local businesses, organisations and residents on changes they could make.