Conservation Council backs water restrictions

The ACT Conservation Council has supported moves to introduce tougher water restrictions in Canberra from next month.

ACTEW says dry weather and declining water storage levels will mean stage-two water restrictions are likely to come into force in November.

Conservation Council spokeswoman Trish Harrup says Canberra households also have a role to play by using water wisely.

"It's important for people to remember that the garden is the biggest water-user," he said.

"And springtime - as people are planning what they want to put in their gardens, we hope that they'll be looking to drought-tolerant species and also drip-irrigation systems that allow you to minimise evaporative losses."

She says the ACT Government's response to the threat of climate change has so far been inadequate.

"Climate change is going to cause hot, dry summers and more droughts," she said.

"We don't want to be faced with ongoing water restrictions but at the end of the day, the Government needs to be bringing in the measures that will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, support renewable energy and start to move us away from a climate-change scenario."