Community Water Officers are monitoring the Hunter's water usage.

With Level 2 Water Restrictions set to begin on January 20, and storages the lowest in 40 years, curbing water use has never been more important.

Right now the total combined storage level is sitting at 55.4 per cent.

Chichester Dam is at 40 per cent capacity while Grahamstown, Anna Bay and Tomago storages are between 55 and 58 per cent.

The officers are focusing on raising awareness about the restrictions, but, they can issue fines if people do not comply.

Read more: What you can and cannot do

So far nobody has been fined but one warning has been issued, 716 suspected breaches have been investigated and more than 1100 exemptions and 450 pool permits have been processed.

"Our team of Community Water Officers will maintain a visible presence in the region to help spread the importance of the restrictions and conservation in reducing demand on our drinking water supplies," Executive Manager Customer Strategy and Retail Victor Prasad said.

"Our community has responded incredibly well since the start of water restrictions, reducing their usage by 17 per cent compared to what we expected in these weather conditions."

Hunter Water said most users have respected the restrictions.

"We've found the majority of people we speak with to be very receptive to these conversations, and in many instances, they acknowledge and accept why we have water restrictions in place," Manager of Monitoring and Enforcement Rodney Cade said.

"When a breach is reported to our team, we're out there in the first instance talking to people to make sure they're aware of the water restrictions and what it means for their water use."

Level 1 restrictions include urging every resident to save 4 buckets of water. Watering outdoors is restricted between 10am and 4pm each day and every hose must have a trigger nozzle. The use of sprinklers is also not permitted.

For more information about water restrictions click here.