Upper Hunter Shire Council has begun drilling its third emergency groundwater bore after the community's water supply has become worryingly low.
The town is currently on level 6 water restrictions and Council is worried their current water supply won't get them through the next few months.
Mayor Wayne Bedggood found the first bore a success, saying "there's certainly water there we just have to check the quality and the quantity."
However, the water found in the first bore, a few hundred metres below the surface, is not enough to supply the town.
"At this stage, if the first bore water is good quality and quantity, we would tap that into the existing water infrastructure lines and that would help supplement the supply," says Mr Bedggood.
The second bore test has failed to find any water.
Drilling began yesterday for the third bore and hopes are high that they are successful in reaching a substantial amount of safe water.
Mayor Bedggood says the bores "wouldn't alleviate the restrictions that we have but it would stop us having to cart water up."
The town has been on high water restrictions since November of last year and Mr Bedgood says "if we could get two of those test bores supplementing the existing water supply that would get us to Christmas quite comfortably."
The council has plans to implement a 40km water pipeline in 2020 from Scone to Murrurundi, costing $14.5 million, to alleviate the pressures of a dwindling water supply if circumstances arise in the future.
