Hunter Water storages have dropped five per cent in the past three months as the region heads towards a forecast hot and dry summer.
Overall storages were at 92 per cent yesterday, with the region's largest dam, Grahamstown, at 93.3 per cent and Chichester at 81.2 per cent.
This time last year the region's dams were at capacity.
The Bureau of Meteorology is expected to announce in coming weeks that an El Nino has taken hold of Australia's weather system.
The Hunter's water levels drop faster than most other major Australian urban centres during hot, dry periods as a result of the region's relatively shallow water storages and high evaporation rates.
Storage levels dropped to 52.7 per cent at the height of the last drought in early 2020.
A Hunter Water spokesman said it was expected that the region's storages would stay within a normal operating range throughout this coming summer.
"However if the region experiences very dry weather we would review whether or not we introduce water restrictions, which typically start when water storage levels get to 60 per cent," he said.
"Our variable climate means we can go from our current healthy levels of water storage to empty in just three years.
"That may sound like a fair amount of time, but it's really not when you're looking at what we might need to do to ensure that our region doesn't run out of water."
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan was launched in 2021 with the aim of securing the region's long-term water supply.
The plan includes the establishment of a desalination plant at Belmont, a pipeline to connect the Glennies Creek and Lostock dams, increased water conservation and recycling initiatives plus continued leakage reduction across the network.
Lower Hunter water users have also held on to some of the water conservation behaviours that were adopted during the last drought in 2019/2020.
"On average we're using about 10 per cent less water than we otherwise would have if we had the same behaviours pre drought," the spokesman said. "That's a great result for our region and we're doing a lot to maintain those water conservation behaviours."
