As of Wednesday morning, the dam had dropped to 9.97 per cent capacity and Level 6 water restrictions are now in place across the town.

Due to a council decision in December 2009, the change in water restrictions does not affect Oberon residents, besides a reminder of how desperate the situation is becoming.

Water usage rules will stay the same as Level 5 restrictions, which means that residents can still water their garden by bucket only.

It is believed that residents watering their gardens in this way has

little impact on Oberon’s total water usage.

All other external usage of water, including the use of sprinklers and hoses, is strictly banned.

Director of Engineering Leigh Robins said that the Level 6 water restrictions will have the most impact on Delta Electricity, who will be required to reduce their water usage of the dam from a 60 per cent reduction of their allocation to a

68 per cent reduction.

When the dam reaches 8 per cent capacity, Oberon will be placed on Level 7 water restrictions and Delta will be placed on a 96 per cent reduction.