Smaller towns such as Gloucester, Stroud, Bulahdelah, Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest are hitting their water usage reduction targets, but Manning and Great Lakes residents have some work to do, according to MidCoast Council's director of infrastructure and engineering services, Rob Scott.

"It's really important that we all reduce our water use now, to ensure our various plans to supplement the water supply will be successful, and we'll be able to continue to supply the region through this drought." he said.

Manning and Great Lakes households are only meeting the target on average two days every week.

"The response from small towns has been truly inspiring. Residents have got the message and are complying with severe restrictions, with their seven-day average water usage figures at or below their target levels."

Mr Scott said Manning and Great Lakes residents need to find more ways to save water. "We can see there's been a good reduction in normal summer water usage, but we are not there yet.".

Residents can check their area's water usage each day by visiting midcoast.nsw.gov.au/watertracker. Figures are updated every week day, and weekend usage can be seen on the Monday morning.

The Manning and Great Lakes area is aiming to use 17 megalitres or less every day, in order to meet severe level 4 restriction targets. "Most days, we're hovering around the 20 - 23 megalitres mark, which we'd really like to see come down now, before the heat of summer hits," Mr Scott said.

"Meeting our targets is critical - we need to use less water every day and produce as much as possible from our alternatives. This way the water in the storage will last longer and we will be able to avoid level 5 emergency restrictions this summer.

"If we can lower our daily usage to below 17 megalitres a day, the Manning-Great Lakes supply will last into next year without any further rainfall.

"If we all work together and comply with severe water restrictions, our modelling shows that we will be able to produce enough water to get by."

As just one of the measures to safeguard the water supply, council has completed the installation of four additional production bores on the Nabiac borefield, boosting the aquifer system's capacity from 6 to 8 megalitres per day. This has taken some of the pressure off Bootawa Dam by reducing the amount of water required to keep up with the daily usage.

RELATED: "We will not run out of water" - MidCoast Council's strategy to save us from running dry

The NSW Government has supported council's drought response plans with $1 million in funding for critical infrastructure associated with the Drought Response Project.

Expansion of the Nabiac borefield will continue over the next few months, well ahead of the original schedule of 2025. This will see a further eight bores installed by the end of February, increasing production at Nabiac to at least 12 megalitres per day with further expansion being investigated through use of a portable desalination plant.

"What we really need is for everyone to get on board with water restrictions - that means no outdoor water use for most of the MidCoast, and reducing water use indoors as much as possible," added Mr Scott.

Visit www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/waterrestrictions for full information and to see frequently asked questions. Visit www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/watertracker to see the daily water usage figures for each supply in the MidCoast region.

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