Water restrictions will apply from Monday for users of reticulated supplies in Goulburn and Marulan.
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The council announced the shift to 'amber level' restriction on Friday. It is the second tier on its water use policy and limits each person to 230 litres per day.
The move follows the drop in Goulburn's overall supply to 65 per cent, the trigger for amber restrictions. Up until now the region has operated under 'green level' restrictions, a permananent conservation measure with a target consumption of 270 litres per person per day.
Mayor Bob Kirk said the drought was hitting the region hard, and everyone was doing their bit to conserve water as the area headed into a predicted hot summer.
"Residents of Goulburn Mulwaree are already very water wise, which is not surprising considering the severity of the drought we faced in the early 2000s. We are in a fortunate position with water supply security stronger than much of NSW at the moment," he said.
"In comparison with most other cities and regions our residents do a great job, but the council is now asking the community to take extra steps to conserve our most important resource.
"The Highland Source Pipeline is now being extensively utilised, which is just over four megalitres per day. This equates to over one third of our city's daily water use, and will be critically important to Goulburn if the drought continues throughout 2020."
Under amber level restrictions, use of Goulburn and Marulan water supply is restricted to:
- Hand held hose with a control nozzle or bucket can only be used between 5pm and 10am to water plants and lawns;
- Watering systems and hose sprinklers can only be used between 5pm and 10am on weekends;
- Paths, driveways and hard surfaces cannot be cleaned. In extraordinary circumstances for example following a health threatening incident, a hose can be used to assist to clean up;
- Vehicles can be washed at any time on a lawn or porous surface using a hose with a control nozzle, bucket or low volume high pressure machine;
- Private pools can only be filled when a water offset plan for that residence has been met, including the mandatory use of a pool cover when the pool is not in use. For further details see Council's Water Use Policy.
The Water Use Policy has three distinct levels of permanent water conservation measures based on total storage volume and Highland Source pipeline bulk water transfer triggers. The three levels are green, amber and red. The policy is available here.
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