Tomorrow, the Otago Regional Council will extend its water shortage direction to stop all water takes from the Taieri River and its tributaries as the waterway dips below its minimum flow.
It organised meetings in Kyeburn, Ranfurly and Middlemarch yesterday.
Council chief executive Peter Bodeker said about 80 people attended the three meetings.
Questions were asked about how the council would handle increased flows in the river and why the tributaries were being hit as well, he said.
''We'll ration it back on.
''It's about the whole of catchment, the water above ground and below.
''We want to be fair to everybody.''
While some were critical that the regional council left it late to act, Mr Bodeker believed ''on balance'' the council had got it right.
Some farmers, especially those who had been farming for many years, were philosophical about the lack of rain, believing they had got their normal dry February six weeks early.
The dry failed to give way yesterday to a northwesterly flow which brought little more than isolated showers to much of Otago.
While MetService had issued a thunderstorm watch, by late yesterday North Otago and Dunedin's northern suburbs were the only areas to register lightning strikes.
A MetService forecaster said due to the showery, isolated nature of the weather, most rain gauges registered very little rain by late afternoon.
Dunedin gauges recorded only 1mm to 3mm and Alexandra 1.3mm. Ranfurly and Middlemarch recorded no rain.
Queenstown was the only place to receive heavy showers, recording 9mm at the airport by late afternoon, he said.
Today, the weather was forecast to be similar but with less chance of intense showers, except for coastal Dunedin and North Otago this morning or this evening, MetService said.
Tomorrow, a deep low was expected to pass south of the country preceded by strengthening northwesterlies.
It would be followed by a change to cooler west to southwesterlies, which were to continue through the rest of the week, before easing late Friday and Saturday.
