On top of providing security and confidence, the fact the dam is now spilling is also delivering a general feel-good factor to the local rural community.

Loomberah farmer Kevin Tongue said even though his property is not on the Peel River, the milestone is having positive effects.

"It's great for those irrigators along the river, the environment and for Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal residents," he said.

"It gives some certainty to our industry in Tamworth that they've got a water supply for the next three or four years."

When the tough times do roll around again, Mr Tongue believes the community will be better placed to deal with it, as land owners and council alike have been looking into ways to conserve water better in recent years.

He said while the 100 per cent mark crept up on him, it wasn't all that surprising to hear given the amount of wet weather over the last 12 months.

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"It's probably hard to realise it has filled up so quickly, but it's been a wet winter and the creeks and the gullies and everything are saturated at the moment so anything that falls down is going to run off into the creeks and streams and rivers," he said.

Full flowing rivers is good news for local irrigators, although Nemingha resident Ian Coxhead said he won't be installed with full confidence until allocation is increased.

He said he if the Chaffey Dam is at 100 per cent then irrigators should receive their full allocation, but is concerned cautious bureaucratic procedures will prevent that from happening and leave some doubt in farmers' minds heading into harvest.

Despite the worries, he said it is still a massive boost to the region for the dam to be full.

"There's a lot more confidence out there now, it does give people a chance to at least plan on what crops they're going to grow," he said.

"That's a very important part of the year right now to be able to plan, and there's no use planning and planting crops if you don't have the water to get them through to harvest."

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