With the onset of winter and no real rain on the horizon, there is no point sitting back any longer and waiting for the Ben Chifley Dam level to hit the arbitrary mark of 40 per cent before taking action.

On current trends the dam is likely to reach that point of desperation within a few months but by then so much more damage will have been done.

What must also be understood, however, is that Level 1 water restrictions will not change anything.

Under Bathurst Regional Council’s drought contingency and water supply emergency management plan, Level 1 restrictions amount to no restrictions at all.

Under the heading of domestic use, the policy says there will be restrictions on water residential gardens; no restrictions on washing driveways and paved areas; and no restrictions on swimming pools.

The policy does, however, ask that residents consider a pool cover to reduce evaporation and consider a trigger nozzle for their hose when washing their car.

Similarly, Level 1 restrictions will have no effect on commercial/industrial users. It is a classic piece of bureaucratic thumb-twiddling.

The real question is, why would we bother at all with Level 1 restrictions? The behaviours encouraged under Level 1 restrictions should be happening already.

Under the current plan, Level 2 restrictions would only come into effect if the dam level reached 37 per cent, but at least we would then see some genuine bans.

Water gardens with fixed sprinklers and hoses would be banned between 10am and 4pm, and washing down driveways would be banned. But that’s it.

They are hardly onerous restrictions, but at least they provide sensible guidelines for people who won’t voluntarily heed the waterwise message.

Finally introducing restrictions would also show council to be taking a leading role in educating the community about our dire need to conserve water. What’s more, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone genuinely opposed to such restrictions.

Bathurst’s oft-repeated boast that it has never had the need for water restrictions now seems to blinding decision-makers to the most obvious – and sensible – course of action.