The General Manager of Central Tablelands Water (CTW), Gavin Rhodes, has advised that the Council of CTW resolved at its December 2019 meeting to implement Level 4 Water Restrictions from 1 January 2020.
Mr Rhodes said: “The current level of Lake Rowlands is at 44%, a reduction of 3% over the past fortnight. Although the catchment has not received decent winter rains over the past few years, we were fortunate in August to be the recipient of a decent snow event which increased the Lake Rowlands storage by 8% over a 2 week period. This inflow has assisted us significantly to date in meeting the challenges this unprecedented drought has imposed on CTW as a water supply authority. However, unfortunately the long term rainfall forecast for the Lake Rowlands catchment area is not looking favourable, so we need to continue to act responsibly in managing our finite resource.”
Under CTW’s current Water Restrictions Policy, Level 4 restrictions are triggered when Lake Rowlands falls to 40%. CTW’s deputy chairman, Cr Kevin Walker said, “The CTW Board have been unanimous in deciding to implement Level 4 restrictions, and are fully supportive of the CTW Senior Management Team and staff in managing this precious resource. I would also like to acknowledge our consumers for their understanding and acceptance of the need to implement and adhere to further water restrictions.”
Level 4 restrictions consists of the watering of gardens on Wednesday and Sunday evenings between 6pm and 8pm for a maximum of 1 hour. Watering of lawns is not permitted. Additional approval has been granted by Council for the use of a hand held trigger hose for up to 1 hour per allocated watering day to water gardens only. All information pertaining to the requirements of Level 4 Water Restrictions is available on CTW’s website at www.ctw.nsw.gov.au