Water Restrictions

There are currently no water restrictions in place in the Shoalhaven, please remember that water is a resource and should not be wasted.

During Water Restrictions, washing down of hard surfaces such as windows, walls, pathways, paved areas and driveways with a hose or pressure washer is banned, and requesting a permit for cleaning hard surfaces purely for appearance will be declined.

Why do we need Water Restrictions?

Ongoing dry weather can impact our river flows and dam capacity which in turn can lead to water restrictions. When our river flows drop below 90 ML (90 million litres) Shoalhaven Water must cease pumping water from the Shoalhaven River and rely solely on the storage supply in our 3 dams.

Level 1 water restrictions are brought into place when the water level at Bamarang Dam reduces to around 60% capacity. When this occurs, we release water into the Shoalhaven River from our backup supply at Danjera Dam. The water released from Danjera Dam can take up to 3 days to reach our pumping station at Burrier, and we use this water to top up the supply at Bamarang Dam.

Level 2 water restrictions are brought into place when the topped-up level of water in Bamarang Dam is once again reduced to 60%, then a second release from Danjera Dam occurs.

Should the dry weather persist, and the river flows and dam levels remain low, we remain in water restrictions until such a time as all our dam levels are restored to full capacity.

Porters Creek Dam is in the Milton Ulladulla region and depending on the storage level, this dam will supply water to the southern area of the Shoalhaven.

Customers are encouraged to monitor our Water Snapshot page for regular updates on water storage and river flows.