The dire water situation that's crippling the Gunnedah and wider Namoi area has been spelt out to locals at a town meeting.
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Farmers, irrigators and residents heard from NSW Department of Industry-Water and Water NSW on Thursday in Gunnedah about the long-term water availability and the rainfall outlook, and what the state government is doing to try and combat the big dry.
The department's drought coordinator Michael Wrathall detailed what would happen if dry conditions continued and outlined some measures to ensure future water security for domestic, agricultural and business needs.
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The department's water availability outlook said that "if extreme dry conditions continue, further restrictions during 2019-20 on delivering account water, replenishment flows and minimum releases, or a combination of these, will be needed to secure critical human needs for 2020-21".
"If conditions continue to deteriorate, Upper Namoi Valley is likely to advance to stage four drought criticality".
Stage four drought criticality means Water NSW would only be "able to deliver restricted town water supply, stock and domestic and other restricted high priority demands", according to Water NSW's Extreme Events Policy.
The Upper Namoi Valley is currently on stage three, where as the Lower Namoi Valley is already at stage four.
Locals also heard from Water NSW's Adrian Langdon who said there was no foreseeable end to the drought.
"Using Bureau of Meteorology statistics, we're unlikely to see a change in weather patterns over the next three months," Mr Langdon said.
"There will also be warmer conditions than normal for the winter season."
Mr Langdon also said the last time Keepit Dam was at 100 per cent was in September of 2016, and has steadily decreased since then.
Keepit Dam is currently sitting at one per cent.
Mr Wrathall said while the government could not make it rain, since the last meeting in February the government had updated websites with more drought information, protected small flows in rivers, and put local government representatives onto water advisory panels so they could have a say about their area.