Drought Resilience Planning For The Western Riverina

Griffith, Leeton, Murrumbidgee and Narrandera Councils have joined to form the Western Riverina Consortium, tasked with developing a plan to identify specific and deliverable actions needed to investigate and alleviate the impacts of future droughts in the region, following an injection of $560,000 from the Australian Government and NSW Government.

This region has some of the most fertile irrigated and dryland agricultural land in Australia.

As we look to the future, we need a plan that addresses the specific needs and challenges faced by communities, emphasising the importance of strong primary industries, agricultural supply chains, businesses, community organisations, and local government in building community-level drought resilience.

Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said the expanded program acknowledged that each region in NSW was different and needed a tailor-made approach to drought preparedness.

“Having Regional Drought Resilience Plans that target the needs of regional areas in NSW will help these regional communities forward-plan for inevitable periods of reduced rainfall,” Ms Moriarty said.
Murrumbidgee Council Mayor Ruth McRae said forming the consortium with councils from Narrandera, Leeton and Griffith was an excellent way to achieve optimal outcomes for the respective communities and ensure they were best placed to face the challenges from future drought events.

“Past experiences have shown that drought events have severe impacts on our social, economic and environmental wellbeing and it makes perfect sense to work collectively with neighbouring councils to prepare for future droughts,” Mayor McRae said.

The development of the plan is underway to formulate evidence-based, triple-bottom-line objectives that mitigate or adapt to future drought. A prioritised list of actions and pathways will be established to build drought resilience, specific to this region and address the needs of the community.

Stakeholder and community consultation will be a key element.

The consortium is calling for tenders from organisations interested in researching and producing the plan. More information is available at: https://www.vendorpanel.com.au/PublicTenders.aspx?emcc=7261CB500815&mode=all

• Topics:

• Drought
• Local Council
• Agriculture & Farming