THE rapid drain on Chaffey Dam might have finally been plugged as water restrictions in Tamworth help keep the levels steady.
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After two weeks at level four restrictions, Chaffey has lost about half a gigalitre of water.
This level of restrictions imposes the ban on all outdoor residential watering and it appears to have helped slow the rate of depletion at Chaffey which has lost 15 per cent capacity since the start of 2019.
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There has been an overall reduction in water being released from the state government owned dam with the most recent available data showing Water NSW was letting about 35 megalitres per day flow from the dam for its various licence holders.
This is drastically down from daily releases in January which were exceeding 190 megalitres.
It is positive news for businesses and residents in Tamworth, with the hope emergency level five restrictions can be staved-off for as long as possible.
Level five measures would come into effect when the dam hits 20 per cent capacity.
According to the council's drought management plan, residences could be asked to "reduce shower times and limit washing machine loads".
While "business may be asked to restrict water usage to only essential services, with the possible shutting down of non-essential, water dependent services".
These austere measures could be a number of months away without a huge amount of rain falling over of the catchment, but it gives the council time to investigate possible emergency supply options.
If there is a need to go level five, some emergency options include treated sewerage from Westdale, a temporary weir at Paradise and expanding the groundwater bore system.
While the rapid depletion of the dam has stirred some concern in the community, the current volume of water in storage would have seemed relatively abundant in years gone by.
Prior to the augmentation being completed in 2016, this volume would have represented about 40 per cent capacity.
The council's sustainability co-ordinator, Tracey Carr, said residents of Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal have achieved an "amazing" reduction in water use since level four came into effect.
"The community is doing a fantastic job of conserving water with consumption dropping from a daily average of about 22 megalitres a day in April to now under 18 megalitres a day," she said.
The drought management plan aims to reduce water use to 18.5 megalitres a day in level four restrictions.