As a water summit involving Tenterfield Shire Council, Cross Border Commissioner and Regional Town Water Supply co-ordinator James McTavish and the Department of Industry-Water takes place, Janelle Saffin is throwing her political weight behind emergency measures to ease pressure on the shire's water supply.
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The state MP backed in mayor Peter Petty and general manager Terry Dodds' advocacy at state level, and praised residents for observing current Level 4.5 water restrictions with Tenterfield Dam sitting at 35 per cent capacity.
But Ms Saffin urged the Natural Resources Access Regulator to overturn its May 9 refusal of council's application to pump water from the dormant Apex Park Bore for stock use.
"As Cr Petty points out, Tenterfield is different in that many residents have livestock on small acreage paddocks and currently use potable water inside the town reticulation system for stock use," Ms Saffin said.
"It's estimated that accessing Apex Park Bore could equate to a saving of 2 or 3 per cent of water used from the mains supply and this is needed because if there is no winter rainfall, water shortages could be even more critical come October."
Ms Saffin met with Mr James McTavish in Sydney last week and they had a wide ranging discussion about the drought crisis affecting the Northern Tablelands.
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"So many residents have contacted me in desperation about water shortages but with a range of creative ideas and these should hopefully feed into an ongoing conversation post-summit," she said.
