The drought management plan survey being run by Tamworth Regional Council wraps up later this week, and council has said the answers provided by residents could make a bigger difference than they might think.

Water director Bruce Logan said the drought management plan must operate within rules set down by the state government, but some of those rules themselves need to be changed to give the city better water security.

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"Obviously we have lobbied the state government ... about changes in the rules in the water sharing plan and that will continue," Mr Logan told the Leader.

He said community input could shape future discussions with water authorities.

"We could go to the state government and say the community is prepared to save more water, but they only want to do that if they can improve the security of their water supply," Mr Logan said.

The drought management plan - which is up for review - dictates triggers for water restrictions, among other things.

The way it works now, the state government looks at how much of the precious resource is in Chaffey Dam and decides what percentage should be used for irrigators, residents and the environment.

That means water that savvy Tamworth locals might save if they stayed on strict restrictions could simply be sold off, Mr Logan said.

"At the moment there is no incentive to save water in terms of improving water security in Chaffey Dam, so that's a significant issue for us," he said. "But we cannot hold off on a new drought management plan in the hope we get a rule change from the state government."

The drought plan review survey asks more than 40 questions about council's management of water, across a range of issues.

"We want to know what the community thinks," Mr Logan said. "It is the right time to be asking."

Town users can do the online survey until February 5.