Invercargill City and the Gore District have now lifted all water restrictions around unattended domestic hosing and sprinklers.

However a ban still remains in place in the Southland District.

Invercargill City Council Group Manager Infrastructure Erin Moogan said rainfall last week and further anticipated rain heading into Anzac weekend was expected to keep the Ōreti River flowing well above the low-flow rates first experienced in January.

“Together with cooler weather and the increased expectation of rain as we head into winter we can feel reasonably confident that the Ōreti will be getting back to normal,” Ms Moogan said.

Gore District Council Three Waters asset manager Matt Bayliss said the 15mm of overnight rain had filled Mataura's Pleura Dam, and that, along with cooler temperatures and more rain forecast meant the restrictions could now be eased.

However Bayliss said there was still a conserve water notice in place, as the Mataura River was currently flowing under 17 cubic metres per second (cumecs).

He said they would continue to monitor water levels closely over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile the Southland District Council (SDC) is yet to relax their sprinkler and unattended hosing restrictions.

SDC Water operations manager Joe Findley said while there was now surface water about, there was a slight delay for the aquifers to catch up.

They would continue to monitor water levels, especially in Mossburn, he said.

Mossburn ran dangerously close to running out of water earlier this month (3 April) when one of the town's two bores dried up leaving the remaining one struggling to cope.

Findley however remained optimistic and said they would be reviewing the current water restrictions again on Tuesday (26 April).

Southland's restricted fire season also ended today (21 April).