Hope at last as creeks flow for first time in years

Creeks and streams in NSW’s drought-plagued western reaches are flowing again for the first time in years.

Drone pictures of drought affected area after rain in White Cliffs, NSW. Picture: Shelby-Rae Mannion

The sun-baked creeks and streams in NSW’s drought-plagued western reaches are flowing again for the first time in years following widespread rain over the weekend - but scientists warn the much-needed downpour is still far from drought-breaking.

Bourke, in the state’s far west, recorded the biggest deluge, with thunderstorms delivering 94mm of rain in two days and swelling the Darling River by 1.7 metres.

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Elsewhere, Girilambone, in NSW’s mid-north, recorded 42.4mm while, in the Riverina, Griffith recorded 30.8mm, and had the Mirrool Creek running for the first time in two years.

At White Cliffs, north-west of Broken Hill, three-year-old Levi Mannion celebrated the downpour by dancing in rain puddles the first time in his life after his family’s farm received 31 mm Saturday and a further 43mm the following day.

His mother Shelby-Rae Mannion said it her little boy had never seen so much water.

“The kids were just shouting, ‘It’s raining it’s raining,’” she said of her son and his four-year-old sister, Ruby-Mae. “It hasn’t rained like this in three years for us. They were so excited.”

Sisters Molly, left, and Maggie, second right, with their cousins Ruby-Mae and Levi Mannion in White Cliffs, NSW.

The wet weather was caused by a series of low pressure systems moving across the nation’s eastern seaboard, dragging moisture down from Queensland and into Victoria before returning to NSW over the weekend.

While far western NSW was the major beneficiary, Queensland’s drought-ravaged central west also experienced some much-welcome respite, with Blackall recording almost 100m, along with 60m in Victoria’s north-east.

However, for many the celebrations will be short lived.

While the central western NSW mining town of Cobar recorded 41mm over the weekend, the threat of Day Zero water storages still loom over the town, which relies on the ever-diminishing supply of Burrendong Dam, 350km away.

38 mils of beautiful rain today at our farm near Tottenham, central NSW.... it’s not drought breaking but it’s a start... and I have one very happy farmer!! ☔️☔️😂

Posted by Tracy Bennett on Sunday, 3 November 2019

The dam – which also serves towns at risk of Day Zeros including Dubbo, Narromine, Trangie and Nyngan – was at 3.8 per cent of capacity before the weekend’s storms - and that was likely to remain largely unmoved by the weekend’s weather.

“I would be stunned if the capacity of Burrendong Dam moved even half a per cent,” water scientist Ian Wright said. “The rain was just patchy.”

Dr Wright said that the ground had been so dry across most of the state that any rainfalls below 100mm were “being soaked up like a sponge”.

“The data still conveys a poor outlook for the state, and for the whole of Australia. We need a lot more.”

Nationals leader Michael McCormack said it the rain had come as great relief to many famers but warned there were still tougher times to come.

“This is great. But one downpour doesn’t end the drought, it doesn’t solve the problem in the drought-stricken communities,” he said.

Mr McCormack’s sentiments were echoed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is in Bangkok for the East Asia summit.

“Australia at present has got some challenges in the agricultural sector, but I was very pleased to hear the reports of rain overnight,” he said.

“It’s very encouraging. We know that rain of itself is not drought-breaking, but I would say that it has been a tremendous encouragement to those western districts of NSW in particular, who have been looking forward to that.

“But our agricultural sector, despite the fact that we face droughts and floods, remains strong like all sectors of the Australian economy.”

With Simon Benson, AAP

Jack russell Nibbles surveys the rain on a farm near Nyngan, in central NSW. Picture: Tom Moxham