COUNCILLORS have been told that the reason why the Chifley Dam level has been slow to increase is due to a lack of soil moisture.
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Before Wednesday's rain, about 320 millimetres of rain had been recorded in Bathurst during 2020, about 50mm more than had been seen to the same day in 2019.
Despite this, the dam has only risen by about two percentage points.
Councillor Jess Jennings raised this at the last meeting of council, saying he thought the problem was to do with soil moisture and farm dams, and sought clarification from the director of Engineering Services, Darren Sturgiss.
"The lack of ground water moisture, that needs to be recharged, as do the farm dams, which a number of those over the drought period have been somewhat depleted, then that encourages runoff and then into the dam," Mr Sturgiss said.
"Whilst there is some soil moisture present, we would certainly like some follow-up rain as soon as possible."
He also provided an updated on the path to "day zero", when there will be no usable water in the dam, which is anticipated to be in December.
Mr Sturgiss said the dam is expected to be at 22 per cent in July, which would see Bathurst move to level five water restrictions.
Level six water restrictions are anticipated to be needed in September.
Council is continuing to investigate and enact measures to extend the life of Bathurst's water supply.
