High and dry in undeclared disaster zone

IN the driest town on the driest river in the country, the children have to bring their own drinking water to school.

IN the driest town on the driest river in the country, the children have to bring their own drinking water to school.

The residents of Booligal in southern NSW can only listen with envy to the reports of downpours and floods in the north of the state.

Their river, the Lachlan, stopped flowing on Christmas Eve and the drenching Christmas Day rains which brought hope to so many farmers, brought them just 14mm - an amount that quickly soaked into the parched ground and brought no run-off at all.

As the Bureau of Meteorology declared 2009 the second-hottest year on record, local farmer Matt Ireson reflected on another year of failed rains.

Their total for last year was 182.7mm.

"We normally have 13 inches (325mm)," he said. "It was another dry year. Our last flood was in 1989-90. The last 20 years have been getting drier."

Not only was last year's rainfall low, there was not one fall of more than 20mm - just dribs and drabs that quickly evaporated.

Mr Ireson lives several kilometres out of town with his wife Sandra and three of the school's 10 students, Lochlan, 11, Ellie, 9, and Pip, 7.

The river that runs past their house has dried to a few waterholes. The fishing rods have been put away and the canoes pulled on to the dry banks. The horses have been brought into the house yard to eat the grass.

In the middle of last year, it became clear the dam at the headwaters of the Lachlan, Wyangala, did not contain enough water to continue to support all the towns and farmers downstream. The NSW Office of Water implemented critical water planning measures that essentially stopped the river flowing at Condobolin.

But many downstream of Condobolin, like the Iresons and the town of Booligal, relied on the river for their water. A bore was sunk in Booligal to supply the town and the school, but the water, at 1800 parts per million of salt, turned out to be too salty to drink.

"If you want to drink water, you cart it from Hay," Mr Ireson said.

The water, trucked 80km, costs $300 to $400 a load.

Mr Ireson said those further down the river were in even more dire straits. He can't understand why the floods further north are declared a natural disaster, triggering assistance, while the water shortage along the Lachlan is not.

"Why can't we access some help to keep communities out here?" he asked.

The Iresons' neighbour, Bill Sheaffe, standing on the bank, said of the river: "It is as dry as a wooden god." His property has 80km of river frontage, but the only water lies in stagnant holes. In its best season, Eurugabah saw 32,000 sheep shorn and had 4000 head of cattle. Now he runs just 5000 sheep and about 450 cattle.

Mr Sheaffe argues that not only have the residents downstream of Condobolin been sacrificed, but so too has the environment.

He would like to see some government support for downstream farmers forced to find other water sources.

Drilling a bore can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and there is no guarantee of a satisfactory result.

The recent rains raised Wyangala Dam from 4.5 per cent to just over 6 per cent.

The NSW Office of Water said the current water management plans would stay in place until it reached 10 per cent.