Town water consumption for the Armidale region has fallen to approximately 180 litres per person per day, as residents and businesses get behind the ongoing water restrictions.
The reduction in the past month, by an average of 20 litres per day in the Armidale and Guyra town water supply areas, represents a two-month extension for remaining dam supplies, Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray said.
"The community has done a terrific job getting town water use down in recent weeks," Councillor Murray said.
"Consumption levels were around 222 litres per person per day before water restrictions were introduced in March, which was around 40% above the State average.
"Our combined efforts got that down to 200 litres last month, after water restriction levels went up to Level 5 for Guyra and Level 4 for the Armidale supply area."
He said the further reduction to 180 litres in recent weeks has "taken us significantly closer to our goal of 160 litres per person per day".
As the drought continues to tighten its grip throughout much of NSW, the water supply for Armidale and Guyra continues to decline and, without significant rainfall, it is estimated the region has around 300 days of water remaining.
"Forecasts are not indicating significant widespread rain in the short term and it's vital we work together to preserve our remaining supply for as long as we can," Cr Murray said.
"Council is doing everything we can to minimise our own water use, to identify additional sources of water and keep the community informed about how we can stretch out our remaining supplies.
"We're also working with business and other organisations in what needs to be a united effort by the whole community," he said.
"There is still more the community can do as a whole to preserve our water supplies and every small change makes a significant difference. Every litre we save today is a litre of water we will have available tomorrow."
