Water began to trickle over the edge of the spill bay at lunchtime, the first time it has done so since 2005.

Combined with Spring Creek Dam, Orange should now have enough water to last six years, depending on conditions.

“It’s absolutely fantastic, not only the noise but the sheer fact that it’s running over the spill bay,” Orange mayor John Davis said.

“About a month ago, I was out [here] and the tower was something like 15 metres above water.

“Two months ago you had a trigger point with all this run-off ... this is the most water we’ve had in storage for 10 years plus.”

Orange has recorded more than 210 millimetres of rainfall since the start of August.

Although the outlook is for the wet weather to continue into spring, Cr Davis warned residents not to expect that water restrictions would be relaxed beyond level two.

“I don’t necessarily think we should go to one at any time,” he said. “I think two should be the limit.

“We shouldn’t be careless in regards to our usage, we’re still asking people to be careful.”

Cr Davis said two dams at capacity also hadn’t changed plans for securing Orange’s water supply in the long term.

He said he still wanted the time line for completion of the Macquarie pipeline to remain at two years.

“I said two and a half years ago as mayor that we had a challenge and I wanted our council to be part of fixing it, not just to say it’s rained, it’s fine,” he said.

“I don’t want people to start thinking this has given us more time. Why wait another three or four years for this to happen again?”

Approximately 35 residents who live downstream from Suma Park Dam are also being notified by Orange City Council and have been put on a low level alert, in case of more heavy rains. New level two water restrictions will come into force on September 5.