After more than a year of no outdoor water use Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal residents are receiving some relief as Level 3 water restrictions come into effect from Monday 2nd November.
Last week’s rolling thunderstorms and heavy rain sent the Peel River surging and Chaffey Dam rising as levels leapt from 26% to just over 30% in one weekend.
Under level 3 water restrictions residents and businesses can now use a hose outdoors for 15 minutes between 6 pm and 8 pm or use a bucket as many times as they want between those two hours.
Louise Cadell, Water Sustainability Officer with Tamworth Regional Council, said the new restrictions are in line with the cities Drought Management Plan.
“Everyone has been working so hard to stay under Level 4 and Level 5 water restrictions over the last year or so and it’s great to get a little relief,” Ms Cadell said.
The watering timeframe of between 6 pm-8 pm has been chosen in accordance with the Drought Management Plan in an effort to minimise evaporation Ms Cadell said.
Level 3 water restrictions also mean the Tamworth Olympic Pool will be able to open just in time for summer.
The Council is currently undertaking work on the concrete paths and pools infrastructure to ensure the safety of all patrons when the pool opens.
Mayor Col Murray confirmed the pool should be open by the beginning of December.
Chaffey Dam is currently sitting at 33% capacity, just 2% of the target for Level 2 water restrictions.
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed ‘La Nina’ status, which will see a wetter than average summer making the chance of more inflows to the dam highly likely.
For now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and remember more water allowance doesn’t mean we have to use it.