Goulburn Mulwaree Council flags tougher water limits by April

The city's overall water supply has dropped from 67.9 per cent in late November to 60.4pc on January 28. Over the same period, usable supply declined from 64.7pc to 57.2pc.

The council's utilities director Marina Hollands said storages had been declining slowly over the summer months but Goulburn compared relatively well to other cities and towns.

"Given the conditions and with minimal rain predicted we're looking at moving to the next level of restrictions in mid to late March or early April," she said.

Goulburn and Marulan are currently on amber restrictions which limit residents to 230 litres per person per day. Hand held hoses with a control nozzle can only be used between 5pm and 10am to water plants and lawns, and watering systems and hose sprinklers can only be used between 5pm and 10am on weekends. Other limitations also apply.

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But if storages continue to decline, as predicted, Goulburn and Marulan will shift to 'red level' restrictions. These are triggered at the beginning of maximum bulk transfers from the Highland Source pipeline and restrict residents to 180 litres per person per day. Hand held hoses or buckets can only be used between 5pm and 10am to water plants and lawns on alternate days, matched to street numbers. Watering systems and hose sprinklers cannot be used, vehicles can't be washed and pools can't be filled using the council supply.

The region experienced some of its highest temperatures in December and January. They sapped 493 megalitres from Goulburn's storages in December and 335ML in January, council data showed.

But the Highland Source, an 81km pipeline from Wingecarribee Reservoir to Goulburn, is being heavily utilised, Mrs Hollands says.

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The city is using an average 10 to 12 megalitres of water a day and one-third of this is from the HSP.

"This is using the pipeline and pump station at full capacity," Mrs Hollands said.

"It is therefore reducing the amount of water that we are extracting for treatment from Sooley Dam. This is prolonging the storage levels of our dams."

As at January 28, Pejar Dam had 77.5pc usable storage (6975ML), Sooley Dam - 29.5pc or 1846ML and the holding storage - Rossi Weir - 96ML or 28.9pc.

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Residents had responded very well to the amber level restrictions and were meeting the daily 230-litre target, Mrs Hollands said. The council had not issued any fines for breaches.

"If we can get through summer without going to the next level of restrictions, we're going quite well," she said.

Meantime, potable water is being used on Belmore Park and some sporting grounds, including North Park, Carr Confoy and the cricket pitches at Seiffert and Prell Oval.

"Maintaining these sporting facilities ensures that the community can safely continue with activities through the current drought conditions," Mrs Hollands said.

"Belmore Park is Goulburn's major park and the council considers it very important to maintain it for the community to enjoy."

The $9 million reuse scheme will mean the city can use recycled water on parks and gardens. The concept design is almost complete, with a detailed design setting out the irrigation system and approvals to follow.

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Mrs Hollands said construction was expected to start later this year but it would not be available for use before next summer.

The scheme will use treated effluent from the city's wastewater treatment plant.

In related news, an Upper Lachlan Shire Council spokesman said further water restrictions would be enforced in towns if storages continued to drop in coming weeks.

Taralga's storage stands at 55pc, Crookwell's 62pc and Gunning's 66pc. Taralga is on level three restrictions while the others are on level two.

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