But a few farmers are still not co-operating, the Otago Regional Council says.
It issued a warning yesterday to farmers still taking water from low rivers outside rostered times or exceeding rationed amounts, saying it was working to identify those farmers and could use the Resource Management Act to order them to stop taking water.
ORC chief executive Peter Bodeker said irrigation was no longer available in some places and was being rationed or rostered in others.
The Taieri River was looking so low that for the first time, all farmers in the Taieri River catchment area voluntarily agreed to stop irrigating for 24 hours, ending at noon yesterday, so the ORC could measure accurately how much water was available for rationing.
He commended their efforts.
''It demonstrates how seriously they are taking the situation, and underlines their willingness to think and act collectively on the best options for rationing water over the coming weeks should no rain eventuate.''.
Most Otago rivers were at or below their minimum flow and the remainder were at low flow levels.
Farmers throughout the dry areas were making substantial sacrifices to ensure the rivers were sustained, Mr Bodeker said.
''They are working co-operatively to carefully manage and ration what little water is available, and in some areas irrigation has stopped altogether.''
Many farmers had already taken steps to adapt their land management and were reducing stock numbers to deal with the conditions.
Based on current information, the dry weather could continue through to the end of February.
''However, the after-effects of this are likely to go on for several months and reduce winter feed availability,'' he said.
The ORC had already met farmers in the Upper Taieri, Strath Taieri and Manuherikia catchments to discuss future water management options, and staff were in contact with farmers in other areas.
A meeting to brief representatives of Fish and Game, iwi, the Department of Conservation, the Ministry for Primary Industries, and Federated Farmers had been held and a meeting would be held next week with Kakanui irrigators.
There had been reports of several people, mostly farmers with permits, continually taking water, which was disappointing given it directly affected responsible neighbours who complied with water rostering requirements, Mr Bodeker said.
The rivers concerned were being analysed, and farms taking excess water pinpointed. Those farmers would receive a visit from ORC compliance staff. One option was for the ORC to use the RMA but it would rather everyone worked together.
It was ''inevitable'' the ORC would issue orders to stop taking water if rain did not arrive soon, Mr Bodeker said.
One of Dunedin city's main water supplies comes from Deep Stream in the Taieri River's catchment area, and DCC water and waste group manager Dr Laura McElhone said the council recognised the ORC's concerns about the situation there.
But because of the pressure it would put on the pipeline, the DCC could not physically decrease the amount it took from the stream, even if it did not need it.
It returned a required amount to the stream to keep it at a minimum level, but there was no mechanism to increase that return.
Instead, the city was looking at ways it could better use the water it had to take from Deep Stream so it did not have to take as much water from other areas, such as the lower Taieri.
The city council was not considering water restrictions at this stage, although there was considerable pressure on the Outram and Waikouaiti systems at present. The council was still relying on people to voluntarily conserve water at this stage.
''If everybody does their little bit, it will give us the best chance to leave more water available to other communities.''
