FARMERS have blasted the state government's decision to use the Bureau of Meteorology rainfall deficiency analyser to determine the areas hardest hit by drought, saying the latest system is no better than the previous shire boundaries.
Landholders, councils and businesses have branded the latest round of the Emergency Water Infrastructure Rebate scheme an election gimmick, saying the government isn't serious about helping severely drought-affected areas.
To be eligible for the funding, farmers must be experiencing a one-in-50-year rainfall deficiency for 12 months or more, but a number of areas that have been in drought for more than 12 months, including Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, and part of Walgett shire, fall outside the designated boundaries.
Farmers have questioned the mapping, which shows coastal areas such as Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Dorrigo as rainfall deficient.
They've also questioned the distance from their properties to the nearest recording stations, saying recordings were inaccurate due to distance and storm activity, rather than general rain, in those areas.
Walgett deputy mayor and farmer Jane Keir, "Wintergreen", Come-By-Chance, said her area was missing out despite "looking like a desert".
"It is absolutely appalling. I invite any of those people who have done that map to come and have a look at the Walgett shire," she said.
"We haven't had a fall of rain more than 25 millimetres in three years - since July 2012 it's only been storm rain.
"It's so bad now we can't ride a motorbike across the paddock because the gaps in the ground are so big a bike would fall through the ground."
Some farmers believe the system is designed to save money, saying the government is worried about backlash from running out of funding like the previous round.
Of the 151 applications submitted to the Rural Assistance Authority, 85 applications worth $789,661 have been approved, 50 have been declined, and 16 projects are yet to be determined.
Of the 50 applications declined, 38 were denied due to farmers being out of the rainfall deficiency zone.
Last week Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson encouraged farmers to use the rainfall deficiency analyser to determine their eligibility for the scheme.
One rural financial counsellor reported fielding as many as 80 inquiries for the rebate, with another saying they couldn't understand the scheme's criteria.
"Farmers are frustrated about it. They've made the restrictions so tight not many people can access it."
Ms Hodgkinson was unable to explain why areas of higher rainfall and high levels of soil moisture were more deserving of funding than western NSW, which has copped dry conditions for the past three years.
"Drought declarations in the form of lines on maps are outdated and unfair, and could lead to a farmer on one side of a drawn line deemed eligible for assistance, while their neighbour on the other side of the line is not, despite enduring the same drought," Ms Hodgkinson said.
"This is a more transparent and accountable system of drought assistance that is administered according to measured rainfall data, not regional drought declarations drawn as lines on maps."
Walgett Shire Council has met to discuss the rebate criteria, and with the lower 30 per cent of the shire unable to access funding, it wants answers.
The council has invited representatives from the weather bureau to visit the area to see the situation first-hand.
"They say they don't want to do things by lines on a map - now they've just got shades on maps," said Councillor Bill Murray.
Mr Murray, who farms 50 kilometres west of Walgett, doesn't fit within the red zone, missing out by just 20km.
He said he couldn't work out how areas which had received much more rainfall had better access to funding.
"Walcha, Armidale, Narrabri and Moree are included," he said.
"Narrabri and Moree harvested crops last year and we had to watch their trucks go past."
Funding be dammed at Tambar Springs
DESILTING dams would go a long way to make stock water storages more efficient for Tambar Springs producer Grahame Pryor.
However, his property "Killawarra" falls outside the weather bureau's one-in-50-year rainfall deficiency area (see story below), which means Mr Pryor won't get any funding help.
His closest recording station is eight kilometres away at Tambar Springs, but he says rainfall varies immensely across the area.
On Sunday night, some farmers in the region received 40mm; others, just 8mm.
"You can get a storm down the road and the next person will miss out," he said.
"In March 2014 we had more than 100mm but because it had been dry for months before that there were so many cracks in the ground there was no run-off.
"The ground just soaked up the rain like a big sponge."
Mr Pryor (pictured at his largest dam) said he would have used the funding to desilt dams.
"It's going to cost us $20,000 to get mud out of the dams so it looks like we'll be buying a machine of our own," he said.
"I've got a couple of dams on the property - one is empty and one's just about empty.
"The seasons have been that crook here, there's been no rainfall to run water into the dams since 2010."