In July news broke that the dam had reached its lowest point in 10 years at 75 per cent capacity but now at 63 per cent water restrictions are becoming a realistic concern.

Malpas Dam is losing between 17 and 18 million litres a day between evaporation and everyday consumption.

Councillor Margaret O’Connor said the long dry periods that led to the drop meant it may be time for Council to reconsider how it looks at the city’s water supply.

“We may need to follow the rest of the state and measure our water in months’ supply [instead of remaining mega litres],” she said. 

Cr O’Connor said the wall of Malpas Dam could be raised by 10 metres to store more water, something Council may now have to talk to the state government about to prepare for future dry spells.

Mayor Laurie Bishop said while this wouldn’t help the current supply it may be necessary. 

“If it continues that way then adding capacity to the dam would achieve nothing in the short term but water is one of those things that need to be thought about in the long term,” he said.

Cr Bishop said Council would re-examine its trigger points for water restrictions, in light of the current supply. 

If Malpas Dam reaches 50 per cent level one water restrictions will automatically take place.

That would include restricting sprinklers to two hours a day between 5pm and 9am, requiring residents to attain a permit to fill their pools and restricting the washing down of hard surfaces to high pressure hoses.

But since Malpas Dam was built Armidale has never experienced water restrictions.

There may be relief in sight however with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting chances rain everyday between today and Wednesday. 

The bureau predicts the highest chance of rain will be on Monday with 70 per cent.