Dry Namoi River will not threaten Boggabri's water supply, Narrabri council says

Narrabri shire mayor Cathy Redding declined an interview with the Leader, but a council spokesperson said in a statement there was "no imminent threat" to the Boggabri supply.

They said the town's drinking water was provided by a groundwater aquifer, not the Namoi River, which was already "essentially dry".

The state government has predicted the Namoi River will run dry by March next year without serious rain.

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"The Namoi River at Boggabri has not seen flow since rainfall events earlier this year," the council spokesperson said.

"Boggabri is supplied from two bores along Braymont Road, which are well downstream of Lake Keepit.

"Both of the bores take water from the Gunnedah Formation. The Gunnedah Formation is not expected to run out of water due to its linkages to the Artesian basin."

The town has a high-security licence for 760 megalitres but generally uses only about half of that.

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"Council undertakes regular bore maintenance works to maintain drinking water supply to Boggabri," the spokesperson said.

"There is no imminent threat to town water supply in Narrabri shire. Council will continue to monitor the water supply situation across the shire for all town water supply bores."

Narrabri council was not aware of the state government's prediction until it was publicly revealed earlier this week.

"Liaison occurs regularly between council and state agencies, [and] these predictions have not been raised specifically," the spokesperson said.

This year, the Namoi Valley has seen only 12 gigalitres of inflows, or just 1.3 per cent of its long-term average of 870 gigalitres. Last year, the valley received only 60 gigalitres of inflows.