TAMWORTH is still staving off tougher water restrictions, as the city's water supply sits above 21 per cent.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The trigger point for level 5 water restrictions is when Chaffey Dam hits 20 per cent, but the dam level is expected to fall quickly in coming days.
Warm temperatures are forecast for the city during the next week, including 31 degrees predicted for today and 30 for tomorrow.
On Wednesday, Tamworth Regional Council said the dam was sitting at 21.1 per cent - down 0.4 per cent since the same time last week.
READ ALSO:
Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal are all on level 4 restrictions and will remain so until Chaffey Dam reaches 20 per cent. Nundle is also on level 4, Bendemeer is on level 3 and Attunga is on level 1.
Barraba is the only town in the council area not on water restrictions, but it is on permanent water conservation measures.
Split Rock Dam is sitting at 1.96 per cent.
On Wednesday, the council said 41.12 megalitres of water was being released from Chaffey Dam, on average, every day.
The release includes water consumption for Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal, which on average has been about 17.23ML - up from an average of 17.19ML last week. The remaining release is used for irrigators, stock and domestic use, and environmental flows.
The council's target daily release for water consumption for Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal is 18.5ML, which is above the current trend.
But the warmer conditions this week are expected to have an impact on water supplies when the numbers are calculated next week.
Level 5 restrictions are almost identical to level 4, with the exception of reducing the city's daily consumption goal from 18.5ML to 16.1ML.
However, there are a number of emergency responses the council can consider implementing. These include asking "non-essential" businesses to reduce their use by up to 50 per cent, and investigating properties that consistently exceed usage targets.
