NSW Water Minister Kevin Humphries is mulling recommendations which call for the city’s main water supply to be shared more equitably with farmers.

Up to 10 times more water could be released from the city’s main supply, Malpas Dam, according to Armidale Dumaresq Council.

That would mean the 30 or so graziers who rely on the Gara River for supply would not have to truck in water during times of drought.

Council officers met with the NSW Office of Water earlier this year to discuss the plans for greater water sharing in the district. Currently, Council has the sole lease for extracting water from Malpas Dam.

During droughts, it has voluntarily released water into the Gara River  from the Malpas town water pipeline.

But the new plan would see that  release kick in earlier and for it to be far greater.  Also, the plan would stop releases from the dam if water levels dropped to 50 per cent capacity.

While Council welcomed the initiative, a spokeswoman said the dam was “built to provide Armidale with a secure and reliable town water supply, it is not an irrigation dam such as the much larger Copeton, Split Rock or Keepit dams”.  NSW MLC Scot MacDonald said all the district’s water users would have to “tighten their belt” under the new water plans. “These plans will make us more aware of water, which will be more equitably shared between the town, graziers and the environment,” he said.

Mr Humphries is expected to  decide the fate of Malpas Dam and its new plan later this year.