Low water quality from the Bogan River has forced Cobar into Level one water restrictions. 

Avoiding the poor raw water quality from the Bogan River has come at a cost, forcing the Cobar Shire Council to rely on the local reserve storage supply to provide water, quickly depleting the supply. 

“In order to ensure that our storages are brought back to 100 per cent we need the community of Cobar to accept the introduction of the Level 1 water restrictions and the potential to increase to Level 2 or 3 in the very near future,” Cobar Mayor Jarrod Marsden said. 

The restrictions include permitted times for watering, using a bucket for car washing, and not leaving hoses unattended. 

“Low water pressure will be experienced during this time in some areas, and we seek the community's understanding as we try to resolve the poor raw water quality issue,” Cr Marsden said. 

The shire has been alternating between river water and using reserve storage since late December, when a red-alert was delivered for the Bogan River weir for blue-green algae. 

On Friday, the council received an allowance of 1200 megalitres to flow through the Albert Priest Channel, hopefully flushing out the low quality water within a month. 

While it may restore the quality of water and allow water to be drawn from the Bogan River again, Cobar’s General Manager Peter Vlatko said water restrictions may need to remain until the reserve storage is full again. 

“It should be there for (water) security, not day to day stuff…we want some of (the river water) to be going into our storage, not straight to human consumption.”

“At the moment it’s not because we’re in drought. We’re trying to make sure that we replenish our storage so that there’s plenty there for water security when we’re in drought.”

If water quality doesn’t improve, the shire has indicated that restrictions may need to increase to level 2 or 3.