Tamworth council to enforce more water restrictions on Monday

On Thursday afternoon, Chaffey Dam sat at 25.4 per cent capacity. Council predicts as of Monday, the dam will be on or below the 25 per cent trigger point for level four restrictions.

Council's water director Bruce Logan said the outdoor use of treated water would be prohibited until the new restrictions were lifted.

"Effectively, the only change is there is no outdoor watering for residential properties and businesses," Mr Logan said.

"That means the 15 minutes people have presently been able to use water for is no longer available."

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Council will also stop watering sporting fields with treated water, however Mr Logan said many of the city's fields were already being watered via bores.

The region's water use has dropped significantly since council introduced the restrictions. In the past week, Chaffey Dam dropped by less than half a percent.

"I can't say enough about the reaction or response from our residents and businesses," Mr Logan said.

"We're seeing figures of less than 20 megalitres a day, which is fantastic, and we are very pleased with that response.

"We would expect to see some slight further reduction [under level four restrictions], but we're now getting to the point of the minimum amount of water necessary to supply resident properties, businesses and commercial activities."

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Level five water restrictions will be triggered when Chaffey Dam hits 20 per cent capacity. Mr Logan said council was "constantly working on plans" to sure up the city's water supply.

"We're hoping for the best, planning for the worst," he said

"We've got a range of measures we are considering. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but at the appropriate time we'll seek council's direction on whether they want to proceed with those."

It's been more than a decade since Tamworth was under a prolonged period of such harsh restrictions, however Mr Logan said prior to the Chaffey Dam upgrade in 2016, there was a short time of level four restrictions.