Western Local Land Services

Average to below average rainfall over summer is contributing to variable conditions across the region; further decline in conditions in the south and northeast.

• February rainfall was average to below average across most of the region. Many locations received below 10mm of rainfall for the month.
• The region in the Drought Affected category has expanded in the Bourke and Balranald regions. Further follow-up rainfall will be critical to aid improvements in the underlying drought indicators in the south of the region.
• On ground reports suggest surface water supplies continue to remain low in the southern parts of the region, with producers monitoring stock numbers and feed budgets closely heading into autumn.
• Producers continue to monitor forecasts closely and adjust their autumn enterprise management strategies accordingly.
• The drought forecast suggests that further regions will likely transition into the Drought Affected CDI category by the end of May (with low to moderate model agreement and low to high past accuracy). The DPIRD continues to closely monitor conditions in this region.

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Plant greenness levels are variable across the region for the December to February period; anomalies remain below average for parts of the region.

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

Rainfall deficits continue to influence conditions and contribute to the decline in the Drought indicators for parts of the region.

• There has been a further decline in the Rainfall Index (RI) at Ivanhoe since the last Update.
• There has been a further expansion of the area in the Drought Affected category around Bourke over the past month due to a decline in the RI value.
• Further rainfall is critical to ensure no further expansion of the Drought Affected category.
• In the south, the underlying indicators remain low for many regions, including the Wentworth region.
• Rainfall will be crucial to maintain or improve production conditions for the remainder of summer and into autumn.

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