TAMWORTH Regional Council registered a $1 million increase in income flowed into its water fund following a surge in consumption at the start of the year.
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The income splash was revealed in the council’s quarterly budget review which crunched the numbers from the beginning of 2018 to the end of March.
The budget review found a $13,135 income increase on the back of adjustments to rates and annual water charges.
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A rush in water consumption saw an increase of $1,069,315 to the water fund’s income in the first quarter of the calendar year.
Overall, the water fund achieved a surplus of $996,601, which a report in the council business paper said was “due mainly to an expected increase to water usage charges.”
The thirsty consumption coincided with a remarkably dry period in Tamworth.
Since the start of 2018, the Tamworth airport has only registered 17 rainy-days and only collected a total of 79.6 millimetres to date.
The city’s dams have plunged in this period with Chaffey Dam losing more than one-fifth of its capacity in five months.
Since the start of 2018, the Tamworth airport has only registered 17 rainy-days and only collected a total of 79.6 millimetres to date.
On January 1, Chaffey’s capacity was recorded at 85 per cent and, since then, it had dropped to 62.9 per cent and lost 22.1 per cent of water stored in the first five months of the year.
Dungowan Dam’s storage had also taken a hit in 2018 with its current level at 41.87 per cent after it started the year on 54.25 per cent.
According to the quarterly budget update, council undertook $3.2 million worth of works on building, storm-water, water and sewer networks.
This was on-top $2.8 million worth of upgrade on local sealed roads and a further $400,000 on unsealed roads.
Development approved in the Tamworth Regional Council area in the first quarter totalled an estimated value of $18.6 million.
In this quarter, more than 50,000 people visited the region’s libraries, galleries and museums.