Few would deny we have had a good little drop of rain just lately, but just how much will be enough, and have we reached that point yet?
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Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray replied with a question of his own.
"How much will be enough for what?" he asked.
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"If we are talking about having enough water in the dam to reduce water restrictions, then no.
"There's only a steady inflow. I've just been across the Gara River and there is a steady inflow of water into Malpas Dam which has risen."
With 100.6mm recorded by BoM at Guyra this month, that town's reservoirs are at 100 per cent and now, next in line, Malpas Dam is getting an in-flow and rising.
It has gained 6.29 per cent in the last two days, from 36.71 per cent to 43 per cent full on Friday afternoon, February 14.
Cr Murray said, even though some people had had good rain, the drought was still not over, and council still had to remain very conservative about how it approached this situation.
"So, we're going to maintain the current water restrictions for some foreseeable time," he said.
"We've actually surpassed all of last year's rainfall, but still have a lot to make up for.
"A lot of people I've spoken to have said the same. It just goes to show how little rain we had last year that was spread across the whole year."
Observations recorded by BoM in Armidale at the Tree Group Nursery recorded a total of 306.6mm of rain last year, while the Armidale Airport AWS gave up a figure of 315.2mm.
So far this year, readings at the Tree Group Nursery show 202mm of rain for January, while 122.6mm was recorded up to Friday, February 14. At Armidale Airport AWS, 176mm was recorded for January and 110mm until Friday.
The tree nursery and the airport have recorded average annual rainfalls of 765.2mm and 753.6mm respectively.
"This rain is extremely welcome and has buoyed the farmers up a bit," Cr Murray said said.
"But we have to say, at the moment, the drought's not over, because the long-term indicators are that it's going to be an average to below-average year, so we still have to be very cautious."
Uralla's Kentucky Creek Dam hit 38 per cent capacity this week however unacceptable levels of arsenic remain to be a problem. The good news for Uralla Shire Council is that Bundarra's Taylors Pond supply is 100 per cent full.
How dry was it elsewhere?
- Uralla's Dumaresq Street totalled of 192.2mm instead of 763.7, and Uralla at Mihi measured 265.8 for the year, instead of its yearly average of 746mm.
- To the east and Hillview recorded 253.3mm for 2019, instead of its average of about 802.
- Further to the east, Wollomombi River averages about 659mm annually, but last year received 282mm.
- Joegla Station had total of 309.8mm last year instead of its usual 902.6mm annually.
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