THE water level at Ben Chifley Dam has recorded another small rise in the latest weekly reading.
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The water level was at 30.4 per cent when Bathurst Regional Council took its weekly reading on Tuesday, up just 0.3 per cent on the previous week.
The small increase represented an extra 75 megalitres of water held in the dam.
Bathurst's second water storage, Winburndale Dam, was at 86.2 per cent capacity, up from 80.2 per cent a week earlier.
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In more good news, council has released figures showing Bathurst residents have more than halved their average daily water use in the past two years.
Mayor Bobby Bourke said Bathurst households were now averaging less than 10 megalitres of water per day compared to 17 megalitres at the same time of the year in 2019 and 22 megalitres in 2018.
"I would like to commend everyone for your commitment to reducing consumption and saving water," Cr Bourke said.
"In the last five weeks we have reduced usage down to 133 litres per person per day and I urge everyone to keep up the great work because you are making a difference.
"We are still experiencing one of the worst droughts in history and it is important we continue to work together to save water."
Extreme water restrictions remain in place across the Bathurst region, including:
- Watering only permitted before 10am or after 4pm, on Sundays and Wednesdays only.
- Watering can be for a maximum of 30 minutes of water running time (one tap only).
- Watering can only be done using buckets and/or watering cans. No hoses, microsprays or watering systems are permitted.
Meanwhile, Ben Chifley Dam has remained closed to recreational users since January 3 due to an outbreak of blue-green algae.
However, council says the Bathurst water filtration plant continues to produce water that is safe to drink from the town's water system.