Cairns residents are being praised for their efforts to conserve the region’s precious water resources.

Cairns Regional Council issued a “thank you for being responsible” message last week and encouraged people to “keep it up” as residents kept the water usage to a sustainable 82ML per day.

Residents are being praised for their recent water-smart efforts, which have helped keep usage at sustainable levels during the recent period of hot weather, including the first November weekend when usage is typically higher than weekdays.

Council CEO Ken Gouldthorp said the community’s response shows how collective effort can ease pressure on the system.

“We want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been mindful of their water use,” Mr Gouldthorp said.

“Your efforts are helping us manage demand at a time when every drop counts. Please keep it up - small actions by all of us are making a big difference.

“The heat is here and it’s not going away anytime soon. We need to keep usage as low as possible to ensure our reservoirs can meet demand while we work through ongoing challenges in the network.

“Despite the sustainable levels of water use over the weekend, we did see usage peak at 87ML on one day last week which is concerning. With hotter weather set to continue we’re asking everyone to keep it closer to our target of below 75ML per day.”

Council is leading by example by switching off irrigation in many public areas to further reduce consumption, with approximately 70 per cent of the irrigation network now shut down.

“Residents may notice some areas of our city start to brown off, such as garden beds, small parks and centre islands along roads - especially if we don’t have much rain over coming weeks,” Mr Gouldthorp said.