IT'S taken time to work its way down the massive catchment area that drains into Ben Chifley Dam, but the good news for the Bathurst Region is the local water supply is chock-a-block.
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Thanks to the recent abundance of winter rainfall, as of June 28 the local impoundment at The Lagoon is now officially at 100 per cent, or capacity.
That's certainly a far cry from just a month ago when, on the back of an extended dry spell which had farmers and graziers across the district in worry mode, there was talk of another drought.
According to weekly statistics compiled by Bathurst Regional Council tracking the state of the dam, the all-important resource will be ready for the demands of the coming summer.
With rainfall measurements for June totalling 113.1mm - almost three times the average June rainfall of 44mm - the situation is a marked improvement from just four weeks ago when it was sitting at just 61 per cent, the lowest in nine years.
At present council is releasing an average of 4.3 million litres a day from the dam with inflows of about 300 million litres a day.
Consumption of filtered water in Bathurst is about 12.4 million litres daily and the amount of treated water returned to the Macquarie River each day is about 9.5 million litres.
When the dam's full it is capable of holding 30,800 million litres. However, residents guzzle through some 30 million litres a day at the height of summer which is the equivalent of about 12 Olympic-size pools.
Council releases about 85 million litres a day in the middle of summer to keep up with demand.
According to a spokesperson from Bathurst Regional Council, demand on the dam drops right back once autumn kicks in.
"We're looking at 13 million to 17 million litres a day because as soon as it gets colder people aren't watering their gardens as much or filling up their pools," the spokesperson said.
Ben Chifley Dam is located on the Campbell's River some 17 kilometres upstream of Bathurst. Water released from the dam flows down the Campbells River into the Macquarie River.