Level six water restrictions pushed back to July after recent rain

The date has now moved from May 15 to July 6, which mayor Reg Kidd welcomed.

"As a community, Orange is currently going through some tough times, and this news can really lift local spirits," he said.

"We'll continue to review our position, and work to do all we can to push back the day when we might have to go to level six. "

Council chief executive officer David Waddell said NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey approved changes to the pipeline trigger point before solid rainfalls.

"Since then there's been steady flows in the river and we've been able to pump from the river," he said.

"Since the new trigger point was reached, we've been able to pump 213 megalitres of water from the pipeline."

During the same period, 140 megalitres was harvested from stormwater.

Mr Waddell said during a time when there had been no natural run-off inflows into Suma Park, it had made a significant difference to storage levels.

"Those two water sources have added 353 megalitres into our storage," he said.

He said the July date was based on no further inflows.

"When we also take stormwater and the pipeline into consideration, we've now got a realistic scenario that we might not even reach the level six mark," he said.

However, he emphasised the importance of continuing to save water.

Cr Kidd said in recent weeks, the council had made progress to secure the pipe needed to build a pipeline from Spring Creek dam to the water treatment works and had started the environmental review for the proposed expanded Blackmans Swamp Creek stormwater harvesting scheme.