Despite neighbouring councils in the Manning and Hastings increasing and announcing an intention to increase their water restriction levels, respectively, the Kempsey Shire Council has no immediate plans to change from Level 2 water restrictions.
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The MidCoast Council announced earlier this week water restrictions will increase from Level 1 to Level 3 on Monday November 11.
Meanwhile the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council will likely introduce Level 4 water restrictions at its November meeting. The current combined total at the Hastings' two dams is just 52.5 per cent.
However, the Steuart Mcintyre Dam's water level was at 76 per cent as of Monday November 11 and Kempsey Shire Council Water and Sewer Manager Wesley Trotter told the Argus last month higher water restrictions would be triggered when the water level drops to "around 68 per cent capacity".
A Kempsey Shire Council spokesperson said water restrictions will not increase in the near future and the community's water use has dropped.
"There are no immediate plans to change the water restrictions," the spokesperson said.
"Our campaigns over the last few weeks have lowered consumption by almost 20 per cent, so we are starting to see some behavioural change which is helping to make the water we have last longer."
The Steuart Mcintyre Dam, which supplies water to Kempsey, the Lower Macleay and is used to truck water to Willawarrin and Bellbrook, is predicted to last around 15-months (without additional rainfall and it's dependent on quality).
The Steuart Mcintyre Dam's water level dropped by four per cent over period of 10 days (from Friday October 25 to Monday November 4).
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