The Clarence Valley remains on Level 1 water restrictions. These restrictions are on top of the regions permanent water conservation measures imposed by Clarence Valley Council.
Currently restrictions are:
- No outside watering between 9am and 4pm
- No sprinklers or unattended hoses
- Water efficient drip or spray systems – 15 minutes every 2 days*
- Hand held hoses - 1 hour every 2 days*
- No restriction on commercial/industrial use
*If your house address is an even number you can water on even numbered days. If your house address is an odd number you can water on odd numbered days.
The aim of Level 1 water restrictions is to reduce water demand by 5-20%.
According to the NSW Dept. of Primary Industry rainfall in north-eastern New South Wales was below average for the six months up to end of September 2020 and, despite the improvements experienced since early autumn, follow-up rainfall is needed to maintain confidence of longer-term recovery.
As of 21 October roughly one-third of the Clarence Valley is drought affected or in drought and the situation is worse in other parts of the wider Norther Rivers region.
Shannon Creek Dam (a 30,000ML off-stream storage commissioned in mid-2009) is currently listed on Clarence Valley Council's website as at 89% capacity.
However roughly 9% of this current capacity appears to be what remains of local runoff from Shannon Creek's catchment and, as the dam license only allows water from the Nymboida River to fill the dam, this water must be returned to the creek as environmental flow.
The current season of dry weather has caused water levels in the Nymboida River to fall near or below levels where extraction is permitted and Clarence Valley communities are now relying solely on the water stored in Shannon Creek Dam to meet their water needs.
Clarence Valley Council's Preliminary Drought Management Plan (September 2020) can be accessed at
https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/file.asp?g=RES-EWH-40-34-15.
No comments:
Post a Comment