MIDCOAST Council is considering options to best manage water use this Winter as continued drought conditions persist across New South Wales.

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“We are continuing to monitor all conditions, including weather forecasts, river flows and community water use as part of our usual water management practice,” said Council’s Acting Director of Water Services, Rob Scott,

“We’re considering options for best management in the worst case scenario – in case we fail to receive further rainfall in our catchment areas over the coming months.”

Mr Scott said he was confident MidCoast Council is managing water resources in the best way possible during the current drought conditions.

“The light rainfall and snowfall in the catchment over the last fortnight have replenished river flows for the time being, although river levels remain low and without further similar rainfall, we will reach the triggers for water restrictions before the end of winter.

“Right now, our water storages are full, and we are able to keep them topped up from our rivers, so there is no benefit in introducing restrictions immediately.”

The MidCoast area has never had winter water restrictions before. The established water restrictions system is better suited for summer conditions.

Typically, we would introduce ‘moderate’ and then ‘very high’ restrictions as the water storage levels drop to each trigger point. There are set consumption levels – which we expect our community to achieve at each of these levels.

“The problem is that in winter, we are already using less water than the target that is set for ‘very high’ restrictions,” explained Mr Scott. “So there’s no point introducing these lower level restrictions as we would do in summer, because they would not achieve any reduction in water use.

“At some stage this winter, if we don’t receive substantial rainfall in the catchment area, we may need to stop all outdoor water use, which is extreme level restrictions.

“We’ll be keeping everyone informed about the developing situation over the coming weeks, through local media, Council’s website and social media.”

More information on how MidCoast water use is managed, including answers to frequently asked questions and how to save water at home, can be found at https://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/waterrestrictions