There may well be some members of council who do not believe that climate change is likely to make our weather hotter and more dry with less run-off into Chifley Dam.

Nevertheless the members all should acknowledge that climate change is possible and that imposing increasingly stringent and draconian water restrictions on ratepayers is not a viable long-term solution.

(For example, in over 50 years living in regional cities, I have never heard of water restrictions where at least a period of permitting handheld hoses only was not allowed.)

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At least councillors Bobby Bourke and Warren Aubin have attempted to promote making more use of the Winburndale catchment and this certainly could be some help for local gardeners who may have thousands of dollars invested in their plants, although it appears to me that the council is only using that water for some of the amount it applies to ovals and public parks, etc.

Nowhere have I seen an unequivocal statement about just how much water is used on council's assets and whether some comes from Chifley Dam.

Since Ian Macintosh's council had the vision to raise the dam wall in 1999-2000, Bathurst has enjoyed an advantage over cities like Orange and both councillors and residents seem to have become quite complacent.

I have no doubt that someone in one of the council departments could confirm that in the almost 20 years since the dam wall was raised, there has been a vast increase in the number of dwellings, the number of businesses and the overall population of the city.

As council would be receiving more rate income from these increases, it seems obvious that plans must be made to increase the supply of available water when dry times occur.

At the end of January, I spent two nights staying with my son's family at Temora. Although we had extreme heat in January, nearly every day their maximum temperatures had been four or five degrees centigrade hotter.

Yet their parks and ovals were all bright green and, unlike Bathurst, the residents had no water restrictions.

The council at Temora use only recycled water on all their parks and gardens and it would appear that they have planned for their extreme climate far better than Bathurst.

So the use of recycled water is another option that Bathurst must consider. Also, a direct pipeline from Chifley Dam to the water treatment plant may save large losses from evaporation.

I have no doubt that qualified water engineers would have other suggestions rather than just raising the dam wall again.

Whatever the best options are, however, it is time for council to have the courage to make a decision like Cr Macintosh's council did before, because just muddling along is no longer a solution.