Editorial: With this water pressure, it's hell or high water

But for the New England region in 2019, perhaps the saying should be "hell will come without high water".

Desolate landscapes, farms left un-tilled, starving cattle shot, shops closed down and small towns abandoned.

That's what hell looks like, and you can be sure that's where we are going to end up if something isn't done about the water crisis that is fast approaching us.

By the NSW government's own reckoning, the current drought began in mid-2017 and "it is equivalent to a major drought event on the long term historical record (100 years)."

Two years on and not a sod has been turned on any form of major project that will sure up our long-term water security.

The bureaucrats and politicians can't make it rain, we all accept that. But what we can't accept is inaction.

The responsibility of water infrastructure falls largely to the state government.

From what Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson has said, the NSW government will not allocate any money to the region until a study that identifies which projects are the most cost efficient, is finished.

And according to NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey, that study won't be completed until the end of 2020, which does not include the time it will take to draw up plans, put contracts to tender and secure funding.

If it doesn't rain another drop, then Tamworth has a bit over two years of water left. Other towns in the region are in far more dire situations.

Murrurundi has been carting in water since January, while Tenterfield Shire Council had to invent a new water restriction level (4.5) to buy some more time to come up with a solution.

No action until the end of 2020 is simply not good enough. We can't wait that long.

That's why we've launched the Water Pressure campaign.

Our water resources are under pressure, our communities are under pressure. We want to convey that pressure to the state's - and the nation's - decision makers.

Hopefully that pressure turns into action.