Thursday 24 December 2009
Water restrictions across Tamworth Regional Council will remain unchanged over the Christmas holiday but Barraba is still at a critical supply level and around the clock monitoring is in place.
TRC confirmed today that the restrictions currently in place across all the supply areas will remain unchanged for the next few days but are being monitored for any sudden moves in supply. A review will be undertaken for the New Year period.
The good news comes in the wake of falls in user demand after a drop in temperatures and some rainfall which brought relief to gardens.
Demand for town water at Barraba dropped significantly on Tuesday – from 455kilolitres on Monday to 278kilolitres – a decrease that Tamworth Regional Council says is a great response to appeals for residents to slash water use.
General Manager Glenn Inglis says Barraba is still staring down the barrel of tighter Level 4 restrictions if demand does not remain below 400 kilolitres a day – the capacity at which the emergency town bores are currently delivering the entire town supply.
But TRC decided today after overnight monitoring that Barraba can remain on Level 3 – where only buckets or cans are allowed to water gardens – at least over Christmas.
At Hills Plain the response from householders to slash supplies to help the reservoir recover capacity has been terrific but town water users are being asked to maintain conservative watering habits so the reservoir continues to fill up – and not go backwards.
Level 1 restrictions remain in place at Hills Plain over the Christmas break but a review early next week could see them eased.
TRC says forecast predictions for some rain across the council area would help bolster supplies but more importantly ease demand on outside watering of gardens.
At Manilla, there is still no flow in the Namoi River above the town and demand has dropped to around 1.6megalitres a day which is still above the target for Level 2 restrictions there. Water ordered from Split Rock Dam is helping supplement flow for the supply.
AT Nundle, the town remains being supplied from the emergency Oakenville Bore and Level 1 restrictions are in force and the same Level 1 situation applies at Bendemeer, where the flow in the MacDonald River has decreased slightly to around one megalitre a day.
The water situation at Tamworth, Attunga, Moonbi and Kootingal is good.
TRC has appealed to all residents to conserve supplies and obey water rules, particularly in relation to outdoor watering and avoiding water use during the heat of the day.