An impassioned plea has been made by Dubbo regional mayor Ben Shields for a united effort in addressing the city's water crisis.
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In his weekly column in the Daily Liberal, the mayor urges community members to save water.
"It's critical now more than ever that we all come together to play our role to meet head-on this very real threat to our communities." Cr Shields said.
"We can all do so much to make an immediate change... change the way we think about water use, change the way we use water and change the way we conserve water.
"The things we do now, and I mean really put our total effort into, will actually go a long way to buying us more time with the water we have."
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Dubbo Regional Council has foreshadowed tougher water restrictions in the city by year's end.
In July, Dubbo exceeded the residential water consumption target of level two restrictions, imposed voluntarily by the council.
Chief executive officer Michael McMahon has also announced that the council's operational water use will be audited despite it adhering to level two water restrictions.
He said the council would evaluate the requirement to "turn off the tap" on watering operations and activities not directly related to sustaining human health.
Cr Shields said residents would start to see "various" parks and gardens become browner.
"This is an incredibly sad development because I know of so many locals who love Dubbo's green open spaces," he said.
"However this drought is serious. Serious decisions and policy changes are needed."
Residents are being asked to read their water meters and observe level two water restrictions.
"How much water is going down your sink or shower drain that you could capture and use for plants or other household use?," asked the mayor.
"Should you be watering in the middle of the day?"
The mayor said by working together to better understand and limit water use, the community "can slow the need for more extreme and enforceable water restriction measures".
For tips and information visit https://www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au/Households---Residents/Rubbish--Recycling-and-Sustainability/saving-energy-water.