The environmental flows have been the source of contention with critics calling for them to be stopped as the dam - which is Tamworth's water supply - continues to fall. The Peel River is freely flowing after hundreds of millimetres of rain fell this month.

NSW Water announced the water changes on Wednesday, notifying customers that authorities had approved access to uncontrolled flows in parts of the Peel River - from Paradise Weir to Attunga Creek, and Attunga Creek to the Namoi River.

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Uncontrolled flows are also accessible in the Namoi River below Manilla.

Tamworth council water director Bruce Logan said the environmental releases, which were a required condition as part of the construction of the Dungowan weir, were going ahead despite questions being raised in the community.

"They've continued to make environmental releases and will continue to do so, at least until the dam gets to 10 per cent," he said.

Tamworth Airport has recorded 299.6mm of rain this year - 31.6mm of that on Wednesday night - but more often than not it seems to miss Chaffey Dam.

Chaffey Dam rose just 0.2 per cent - from 14.19 to 14.39 - after Wednesday's downpour.

"We had good rain here in Tamworth [on Wednesday] night but obviously it doesn't appear that went into the Peel catchment and if it did, we didn't see the significant levels of inflow we'd like to see," Mr Logan said on Thursday.

Mr Logan also said flows in the Peel River above Chaffey Dam had been very "stop-start".

However, that wasn't the case in the Macdonald River which has been consistently flowing for most of 2020.

"We have seen that once it started flowing it hasn't stopped," Mr Logan said.

It's flowing enough that Level 3 water restrictions will be lifted in Bendemeer.

"Because we have seen so much water in the Macdonald River, and in accordance with our drought management plan, Bendemeer will go back to permanent water conservation measures next Monday," Mr Logan said.