WATER restrictions will be relaxed in one town from next week after welcome rain boosted all three water supply dams in the Tamworth council area.
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Coupled with the rainfall, locals have smashed the target water consumption with usage down, preserving the precious resource.
While Tamworth's water restrictions won't change, people living in Nundle will be able to breathe a little easier on Monday when the village drops from Level 4 water restrictions to Level 2.
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This means rules about washing cars, watering gardens, hand-held hoses and sprinklers have been loosened, but restrictions are still in place to conserve the remaining water supply.
Barraba and Manilla were changed from Level 4 restrictions to the minimum 'permanent water conservation measures' on Monday.
The two townships are supplied by Split Rock Dam - a facility so huge that even at just 4.2 per cent, it holds more than 20,000 megalitres of water, or 8000 swimming pools.
Dungowan Dam has surged to almost 50 per cent capacity over the past week, increasing by more than 7 per cent after the rain.
The dam is owned by Tamworth Regional Council and is a back-up water source.
Chaffey Dam, Tamworth's main water supply, had a 0.43 per cent increase in capacity after runoff from rainfall in the Nundle area last weekend.
Council has praised residents for their "fantastic effort" abiding by tight water conservation restrictions.
The city's average daily consumption for the week was only 14.65 megalitres - well below the Level 5 target of 16.1 megalitres.
It was even less than the previous week, where an average of 16.35 megalitres was used by Tamworth residents daily.
Tamworth council confirmed it has temporarily wound back the marketing campaign for water conservation in Tamworth during the COVID-19 crisis, but council's director of water and waste Bruce Logan said Tamworth is still taking the restrictions seriously.
"Water restrictions are very, very important and the ability for us to communicate and get that message out there still is with us," he told the Leader.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
