With temperatures continuing to exceed 30°C and river levels are dropping, water is precious, but Mid Coast Water Services have said with the community’s responsible use of water, restrictions won’t be introduced yet.
However, restrictions may be necessary if the hot dry spell continues beyond this week or if water usage increases.
Mid Coast Water operates five water supply systems across the region covering the Manning, Great Lakes, Bulahdelah, Stroud, Gloucester and Tea Gardens areas. All supplies are dependent on local rivers except for the Tea Gardens supply which is a groundwater source.
Both river and groundwater levels, along with water consumption, are constantly monitored as part of Mid Coast Water Services’ management of water supplies.
Director of Water Services, Brendan Guiney said the current hot dry weather impacts on water supplies in two ways. The lack of rain means source supplies are not replenished, and the heat often results in higher water use than usual.
The Manning scheme, which supplies customers from Crowdy Head in the north to Tarbuck Bay in the south and west to Krambach, relies on storage in Bootawa Dam and flows in the Manning River.
“With flows in the Manning River decreasing from an average of 4,000 – 5,000 million litres per day, to around 30 million litres per day, we are carefully watching the forecasts” Mr Guiney said.
"While pumping has stopped at Stroud due to the very low river levels, the off-river storage is being utilised and there is over 100 days of water available in storage.
“We do ask everyone to be mindful of their water use over the coming weeks by taking part in our voluntary summer water saving program” Mr Guiney added.”
The key message is 'don’t spray in the middle of the day', reduce your outdoor water use between the hours of 9am and 4pm.
Mid Coast water services continues to closely monitor the situation and will advise the community should water restrictions become necessary.
