OBERON Council will cut the price of potable drinking water by more than 80 per cent to help rural and non-residential ratepayers.
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The water will be made available at a rate of 55 cents a kilolitre for a three-month period, down from the standard residential rate of $2.92.
As drought conditions begin to raise concern in the community and with the onset of winter leading to severely depleted feed reserves across most of the Oberon local government area, Oberon Council has received a number of inquiries about drought support measures available to farmers and residents who rely on tank water for domestic and stock purposes.
When purchasing a card for water from Oberon Council, ratepayers will be asked to provide identification to confirm they reside in the Oberon LGA. A rate notice and photo identification will have to be produced.
Oberon Dam has been dropping at an average of one per cent every seven days and is currently sitting at 60.73 per cent.
Farmers and stock owners are advised that some drought assistance measures are now available through the NSW Rural Assistance Authority‘s drought hub. The drought hub is a one-stop online destination for information on services and support available to primary producers, their families and communities to manage drought conditions.
A new measure for drought assistance available through the NSW Rural Assistance Authority for livestock producers is the Drought Transport Fund which provides a loan of up to $20,000 per enterprise to cover the cost of drought related transport. The low interest loan (2.5 per cent concessional rate) can be used for the transport of livestock, fodder or water where primary producers are negatively affected by drought.
More information about the Drought Hub and the Drought Transport Fund can be found at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/climate-and-emergencies/droughthub/drought-in-nsw or by phoning the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593.
