Consultant hydrologists Hydroilex will meet with Armidale Regional Council this week to present their preliminary findings and outline the first stage of its investigations, which focused on the Guyra district and used records of existing bores and subsurface rock formations to identify likely sites for water bores.
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Mayor Simon Murray said Hydroilex was engaged by council to help find ground water to supplement the region's dwindling town supply.
"This is part of a multi-pronged approach by council to preserve our current supplies and safeguard our town water supplies in the future," he said.
"If we can get a number of bores on line, it will buy us some time with the remaining town water supplies for Guyra and Armidale. But these bore supplies won't be large enough to offer a complete solution.
"High-level water restrictions will need to remain in place and it will be essential for customers to significantly cut their consumption until we get significant rainfall and dam levels are replenished."
Cr Murray said the study would take about 12 weeks and would search for groundwater reserves large enough, and with water quality good enough, to provide potable water for the two population centres.
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"We're having a preliminary meeting with Hydroilex so we can get moving to potentially put bores in place," he said.
"Time is of the essence, but there will be a necessary series of steps we'll need to take, such as gaining approvals, exploratory drilling and water quality testing before we can establish and use any bores.
"With the first four weeks of the study now complete, we're hopeful Hydroilex representatives at this week's meeting will identify a number of sites conducive to having adequate water supplies. Whether they do or not won't be known until we do test drilling."
Cr Murray said council officers were already completing the initial administrative steps for necessary State approvals.
"We're doing what we can to minimise the timeframes for each step and a speedy approvals process by the State Government could be vital to tapping into groundwater supplies in time," he said.
"Ideally, we're hoping to identify and tap into groundwater supplies close to existing town water supply infrastructure, to minimise the time and costs of connecting bore supplies to the established water supply networks.
Hydroilex's ongoing study will turn its attention to Armidale and its surrounds next.
