Riverina Local Land Services

Hot temperatures and variable rainfall across the region slow improvements in conditions.

• January rainfall has been below average in the west and average in the east of the region. However, it has not been sufficient to bring a widespread change in conditions that have been experienced over the past several months.
• There has been an increase in the area in the CDI Drought category (including the Gundagai region) during January. This is being driven by very low values in the Soil Water Index and in some cases the Plant Growth Index.
• Further rainfall is needed to ensure that this region does not transition into the Intense Drought category.
• Management of soil moisture and farm water supply remain a consideration for producers for the remainder of summer.
• Producers continue to monitor forecasts closely and are implementing farm management strategies in line with conditions.
• The drought forecast suggests that the area in the Drought-Affected category is likely continue to the end of April 2025. The DPIRD continues to closely monitor conditions in this region.

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Plant greenness levels remain variable across the region for the November to January period.

Note that some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies.

The NDVI anomaly is a useful measure of vegetation density and plant health. It estimates the amount of green vegetation there is in the landscape compared to what is expected at the given time of year, against the baseline period 1987 - 2020.

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Individual Drought Indicators

Drought indicators continue to remain low in the east, declining in the west.

• The underlying drought indicators are very low at Gundagai and a further decline in the indicators could see the region transition into the Intense Drought category.
• The drought indicator values continue to decline in the west of the region.
• Substantial rainfall is needed to trigger an improvement in conditions across many regions.

To access a Drought History chart for your Parish, visit the Seasonal Conditions Information Portal.