Murray Shire Relaxes Restrictions to Allow Watering of Lawns
Murray Shire residents can now water home lawns under a new Stage 2A restriction.
The new water rules mean residents can access town supplies on their allocated two days a week, based on the odds and evens system previously stipulated under the Stage 3 restriction.
The changes mean Stage 2A will now permit home owners to water lawns as part of their total garden area.
Even numbered houses and those without a number can water on Saturday and Tuesday between 7am-9am and 7pm and 9pm.
Odd numbered houses can water on Sunday and Wednesday between 7am-9am and 7pm-9pm.
All watering bans will remain in place for Monday, Thursday and Friday.
Murray Shire General Manager, Mr Greg Murdoch, has issued a plea to residents to ensure the revised restrictions do not encourage complacency and overwatering.
"Council does not want people to take it for granted that the taps have been turned back on to allow them to enjoy green space in the privacy of their own home yards. We want to encourage residents to embrace this privilege and continue to water responsibly, not unnecessarily," Mr Murdoch said.
"As the governing body in our community, we want to help protect the leisure lifestyles in which people have invested, when they chose to build or buy their dream home in Murray Shire," Mr Murdoch said.
"With some ongoing education about watersmart plant and drought tolerant lawn varieties, residents can sustain landscapes of personal choice," he said.
Mr Murdoch said sustaining community landscapes of public parks and gardens, cemeteries and sports playing fields had always been a high priority for the Shire, despite continuing drought conditions over the last several years.
"This was evident by the Shire's investment in additional water allocations in the temporary exchange last year to sustain lawn areas," he said.
"Where practical, Council has varied the style of some of our local landscape areas, like the new sand/gravel areas around the Moama Branch Office, to minimize the size of lawn areas, which has enabled us to continue to prioritise and sustain smaller lawn areas to benefit our entire community. We have all drought tolerant plant and turf species and we do still require some water to ensure our landscape investments will survive," Mr Murdoch said.
"Council would like to encourage all home gardeners to do the same. With greater education about drought tolerant, watersmart plant and turf varieties that are best suited to our region, we can ensure our landscape investment and water resources are protected long term, simultaneously," he said.
"There are a number of exceptional drought tolerant, watersmart instand lawn varieties that, once established, will survive on just one single watering a week. Any cool season turf variety that have substantially higher water requirements will not be sustainable under the new 2A restrictions. Innovative and environmentally friendly grass species would, for many of the cooler months of the year, actually not require one single drop of water," Mr Murdoch said.
For further information about how to sustain greenspace with minimal water requirements, visit Council's website www.murray.nsw.gov.au.
The Shire will soon run public information seminars on watersmart gardens.
Contact details
Greg Murdoch, General Manager
Tel: 03 5884 3302
Fax: 03 5884 3417
admin@murray.nsw.gov.au
