Australia Weather News

Farmers said the NSW far west has been the worst affected in the state by the ongoing dry spell. - ABC

The landscape looks drier and wildlife are more desperate for feed the further west you drive along the highways of New South Wales.

Bureau of Meteorology data shows that in the past two years, most of the far-west region received 400 to 600 millimetres of rainfall, and only 100 to 200 mm in the past 12 months.

Some properties have not received any noteworthy rain in that time.

The NSW government scrapped its drought declarations more than five years ago but it has not stopped locals from using the term.

"As much as people have avoided the D-word, it is a drought," far-west grazier Wesley Herring said.

While far-west locals are doing their best to beat the dry spell, the only real cure is rain.

The chase for water and food

Many farmers in Australia have destocked and searched for alternative sources of water but those in the far-west said these dry conditions were becoming some of the worst.

Thorndale Station, less than 10 kilometres from Broken Hill, was the driest it had been in more than three decades.

Hobby farmer Sandy Bright said she had been carting water for a few months since the dams and tanks dried out.

She has decided to build a pipeline that will connect to the city's main water supply.

"This time [the dry] has been a bit prolonged," Ms Bright said.

Mr Herring lives about 120km north-west of Broken Hill and has been running a pipe from a bore on his property to his house for a few months.

"October 2016 was the last time water ran into [our] dam. For the first time in 103 years my house is on sub-artesian bore water," Mr Herring said.

Donations of more than 450 bales of hay have been trucked from Victoria to the far-west over the past few weeks.

Graziers said the 'Need for Feed' campaign was generous but would not last long.

"Ten bales to me [lasts] two days and that's stretching it and I'm only small. There are people here with three, four times the [size of my] property that are using way more hay," Mr Herring said.

The fourth generation farmer said he spoke to his 93-year-old grandfather every day for advice.

"He can't give me any because he had droughts but there were options. [Now], there's no agistment available, nothing, nowhere."

Mental and physical health tested

Mr Herring said he was in a deep depression a few years ago during the last dry period.

"[The dry] tests every one of us to the salts of our souls as to what to do," Mr Herring said.

"The black dog hit me and it hit me hard. I attempted to take my own life but I didn't and thankfully through the help of mental health facilities and my wife and close friends I made it through."

While Mr Herring does not rely on the Darling River, most farmers and residents along it do.

Since 2000, there have been much longer periods of no to very low flows into the Darling which has been blamed on both human mismanagement and Mother Nature.

The river runs through the small town of Wilcannia where many Barkindji people live.

'Barka' means river and the 'people of the river' believe the Darling's drying state increased crime and affected locals' mental health.

"There's like a depression right across the community," Barkindji Wilcannia woman Reena Staker said.

"Socially and culturally, [the river] brings people out of their homes and together. Unfortunately in the last year or two, we haven't been able to do that."

The river at and surrounding Wilcannia has had a high level alert warning for blue-green algae since March which means locals and stock cannot touch or drink the small pools of water that remain.

Wilcannia has been on level one water restrictions since January.

Sporting tracks drying out

The annual St. Patrick's Race Meeting is Broken Hill's biggest annual social and sporting event but dry conditions had a negative effect on the course this year.

More than 150 tonnes of sand and tens of thousands of litres of water were poured and graded into the hard dirt track ahead of the weekend's races.

"It was to ensure the horses were not injured in any way," St Patrick's Race Club assistant treasurer Marc Coulter said.

It was not cheap for the club - at least $5,000 to keep the track moist. The number of ticket sales were also down this year on previous years.

Temperatures reached 38 degrees on Saturday which invoked Racing NSW stewards to enact its level two Racing in Hot Weather Policy.

It meant horses had to be hosed down more quickly after races, kept in the shade for longer, and have access to more drinking water.

St Patrick's Race Club vice president Marg Corradini believed it was the first time in about 15 years the policy was in place for the event.

Tourism industry and wildlife at risk

The Menindee Lakes are fed by the Darling River and were mostly full at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017 following the best inflows in years.

Levels have dropped to 16.5 per cent of capacity and declined daily.

Locals and water authorities have pointed the finger at a range of factors, including high evaporation, limited rainfall, alleged over extraction by irrigators upstream, and water releases downstream.

Amateur wildlife photographer Geoff Looney has photographed the changes over the past 18 months.

"We probably had the best wild duck breeding season in 2016 when the lakes were full," Mr Looney said.

"It slowly declines and all the bird life have got to find somewhere else to go."

Mr Looney has captured dozens of dead native fish. The state government said they were likely killed from limited dissolved oxygen and a lack of refuge from the heat.

He said he had seen huge mobs of emus and kangaroos gathering at the lakes for a drink and feed.

Menindee relies on its lakes for its largest industry - tourism.

"[Residents] are pretty well disgusted because living in a river town, you rely so much on the river," Mr Looney said.

"The only thing drawing people into the town now are our lakes for tourism and all of the shops and hotels and that rely enormously on tourist trade.

"If the lakes are down, so are the tourists."

ABC