JUSTIFYING the need for water restrictions this summer will not be enough to quell the anger many residents are still feeling.
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A record dry winter followed by a lack of inflows to Ben Chifley Dam even after reasonable rain in spring and early summer has undoubtedly left the region’s major water storage looking vulnerable.
But the response from Bathurst Regional Council, to immediately jump to Level 3 water restrictions, remains an error of both policy and politics.
By deciding that restrictions should be introduced if the dam did not reach 60 per capacity by an arbitrary date, council has trampled all over the drought plan that was already in place for the region.
Rightly or wrongly, a dam level of 40 per cent had always been the agreed trigger point for restrictions in the region and councillors had confirmed that policy just a few weeks earlier.
For all that, though, most residents do not have a problem with some level of water restrictions.
Bathurst Regional Council has made a rod for its own back by loudly trumpeting for so many years that there had been no need for water restrictions across the region ever since the dam wall was raised in 2000.
During the severe drought around 2007, as neighbouring regions feared running out of water, Bathurst residents were proudly hosing down their driveways and watering their lawns during the heat of the day – all with council’s approval. It was a case of pride before a fall.
Council could have eased the anger now being felt – and possibly even delayed the need for Level 3 restrictions – had it introduced less stringent restrictions 10 years ago.
Its failure to do so gave homeowners no warning of what was to come and no way to prepare.
Residents who have spent thousands of dollars establishing their gardens are now expected to water them just half an hour a day every second day during summer. It is simply intolerable.
Council must take responsible for its shortcomings over many years in this policy area before attempting to justify an over-the-top response now.
Water restrictions are certainly justified and should have been brought in years ago.
But Level 3 restrictions are a step too far and have succeeded only in forcing people to break them. What a mess.