Earlier this week, Tamworth residents were commended for collectively bringing their daily water consumption below 19 megalitres.

People will have to cut back more with level four restrictions just around the corner and the council's drought management plan aims to reduce the city's water use to 16.5 megalitres per day.

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The council's water sustainability officer Ian Lobban said an audit of a number of local businesses would begin on Monday.

Businesses account for almost one-third of daily water use in the city, by the council's estimates.

"The vast majority of people are doing the right thing and they should be commended for their water wise habits," Mr Lobban said.

"It probably drops down to about 13 or 14 megalitres at the weekends, so the remainder of that must be business and industry.

"As of next Monday, we have a water auditor coming in to have a look at those large businesses, large water users who are consuming 3.5 megalitres per annum, so we can get a snapshot of what they are doing and work out what we can do down the track."

Mr Lobban said some warning letters had been sent to businesses which had been seen "irrigating landscapes or lawns" since restrictions came into effect.

Level four restrictions will come into effect once Chaffey Dam falls to 25 per cent, which is expected in the coming weeks.

With no drought breaking rain, there is a chance Tamworth will move to level five restrictions at some point, which could force some changes for business operations in the city.

According to the drought management plan, "non-essential business" will be asked to reduce water consumption initially by 30 per cent and then by 50 per cent in the event of a severe shortage.

Mr Lobban said the council's warning to businesses to-date have only related to outdoor watering and there had been no interference with operations.

The council will begin looking for emergency supply options once level four restrictions come into effect, but water director Bruce Logan said there were a number of other factors to be considered when it came to a timeline of implementation.

"It depends on whether we get any rain; it depends on what the level of the dam continues to fall at," he said.

"Assuming on July 1, there is no further allowances or allocations for general security users, what does that mean for the rate of the dam falling?"

"Our position at the moment is hoping for rain, but planning for the worst."

TAMWORTH'S warmer than average autumn is showing no sign of breaking.

There hasn't been a drop of rain registered in Tamworth for the entire month of April and top temperatures have been more 2 degrees hotter than average.

While April has been completely dry, March's tally of 76mm has put the season's rainfall just behind the long-term average of 80mm.

Top temperatures this month have stayed steadily in the high-20s, but there could be some reprieve this weekend.

Saturday is tipped to top out at 23 degrees before falling to a brisk minimum of 6 degrees on Sunday morning.

Usually by this point in the year, about 221mm of rain has fallen in Tamworth, however the city's rain gauges have registered just greater than half amount (120mm) in 2019.

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