More regions slip into drought across NSW as state opposition calls for immediate El Niño action

More parts of New South Wales are moving into drought as the state opposition calls for further action to prepare the state for dry conditions.

The Department of Primary Industries has declared parts of the Clarence, Mid-Coast, Dungog and Port Stephens local government areas to be in drought.

For the second month in a row, the parish of South Casino, in the Northern Rivers region, is also classified as being in drought.

The areas considered drought-affected have also grown to include swathes of the North Coast and Hunter regions, and parts of the Northern Tablelands, North West and South East regions.

Opposition agriculture spokesman Dugald Saunders called on the government to reveal its drought preparedness plan.

“At places like Rouchel [in the Hunter] the drought is right now. It’s not something that’s coming. It’s actually already impacting, and there are lots of questions about where to from here,” he said.

“What I want to see is the new minister taking the bull by the horns and making some calls right now.”

Premier Chris Minns said he was taking the situation seriously.

“We do have to acknowledge that we’re moving from a La Niña weather pattern into an El Niño weather pattern, and as a result we need to be prepared for it,” he said.

“We were able to speak with NSW Farmers [Association] about their asks as far as the NSW budget is concerned.

“But if their demands or requests of the NSW government is to be prepared for the drought season, I think they’re right. We should be.”

From floods to drought

The situation marks a stark turnaround from last year when floods devastated many parts of the state.

One of the regions most affected at this stage is the Northern Rivers, where areas near flood-ravaged Lismore have slipped into drought.

Anthony Clark from the Department of Primary Industries said conditions were expected to worsen in spring and summer.

“That region seems to be faring the worst out of all the regions we’ve been monitoring,” he said.

“You’ve got quite a severe rainfall deficit.

“If you look at the last 12 months, it’s actually sitting well below the fifth percentile, which is the lowest 5 per cent in the last sort of 100 years.”

Robert Sutherland, who runs 140 breeders at Tullymorgan, north of Grafton, said the outlook did not look promising. 

“It hasn’t properly recovered from all that wet weather and flood, and now the dry has set in,” he said.

“It stopped raining last November and we haven’t really had any decent rain since.

“At this stage the cattle are hanging on pretty good but … the water will start to go from now on too, which is a bit of a worry.

“We had to cart water in in the last drought, but hopefully it doesn’t get that bad. But you don’t know.”