Queenstown Lakes District Council chief engineer Ulrich Glasner said water restrictions were a real possibility over the hottest part of the year, which falls in the resort's busy festive period.
''With the hot weather now firmly here to stay, people use a lot of water on their lawns and gardens or washing their boats,'' Mr Glasner said.
''Consequently this means some of our communities often face water restrictions when the demand is greater than our system can supply.
''Recent hot weather combined with low rainfalls has seen water reserves dropping to low levels for this time of year, and while restrictions aren't on the cards just yet, they could be a distinct possibility if levels continue to fall.''
Mr Glasner said an hour a day of irrigation was considered a fair share of total water for the day.
He said there are a number of simple ways people can conserve water, including watering gardens by hand rather than setting a sprinkler, timing sprinklers for 6am when demand is low, washing only full loads of dishes and clothes, checking for leaks and taking shorter showers.
Coincidentally, Otago Regional Council launches its second round of consultation on water management options for the Arrow catchment and Wakatipu basin tomorrow.
It is attempting to balance the needs of farmers and other irrigation ''takes'' with those of the communities for drinking water, recreation and visual amenity.
This could include setting minimum flow levels of 800, 900 or 1000 litres per second on Arrow River, and water allocation limits in the area.
One similar change, on the Lindis River, has been fought all the way to the Environment Court.
But Lisa Cain, ORC Senior Policy Analyst, said the council has analysed four years of data and, except in dry years, believes the minimum flows can be maintained without restriction on takes further upstream.
''What we've done is analyse what that on-paper consented amount is for the Arrow catchment and we've got four years of measured data, in terms of knowing what people are actually taking.
''What they're taking is a lot less than the on-paper allocation.''
The community consultation sessions begin in Arrowtown Bowling Club tomorrow, 1.30-3.30pm or 6.30-8.30pm, and finish in St Margaret's Church hall, Frankton on Friday, from 12.30pm-2.30pm.
Written feedback on the options closes on January 26.
