ELIGIBLE primary producers in the Bathurst region will be able to continue to access free water for stock and domestic purposes.
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At the May 20 meeting, Bathurst Regional Council resolved to extend the Free Water for Verified Primary Producers scheme, which has been available to farmers since September 2018.
It has been extended on five previous occasions due to the prevailing conditions and the decision made last month is the longest extension of the scheme to be approved to date.
At each review, the recommended extension is usually a period of around four months, whereas this time it has been extended by more than seven months, out to December 31, 2020.
However, the scheme could cut out prematurely if Chifley Dam reaches a capacity of 22 per cent before that date, or if the drought declaration for the Bathurst council area is removed.
Councillor Jess Jennings, one of the biggest supporters of the scheme, has welcomed the latest extension.
"I think this has been a successful policy and very well delivered," he said.
"... We've managed to be able to provide the policy consistently throughout and now hopefully we're moving out of these dry conditions and it will resolve itself and [the scheme] won't be necessary next time we deal with it."
There are 1450 properties in Bathurst owned by verified primary producers that are eligible to access the scheme.
To do so, they need to submit an application form, which can be found on council's website or picked up from the civic centre.
The free water allocation is limited to 20kL of water per week per rate notice, non-accruing, and this water must be used for stock and domestic purposes only.
Council is not responsible for cartage.
Standpipe water sales are also still at the reduced rate of $2.50 per kilolitre whilst part of the area is drought declared.
The current foregone income as a result of the scheme is $14,575, which is considered "minimal".