WHEN Booligal sheep producer Doug Comb laid a 16km pipeline from the river to his homestead, he thought he was securing his stock water supply.
But that pipeline was from the Lachlan River, and that river is now dry and has been for seven weeks.
It's left Mr Comb, and many others like him, in a tenuous situation, with dwindling water in ground tanks (dams) only expected to last a few more weeks.
Mr Comb has 5000 sheep on his station, Keiross, and now plans to sink a bore to provide stock water.
But if his neighbour's experience is anything to go by, that could be an expensive process with no guarantee water will be found.
"The neighbouring station got water at 315m, so our bore could cost between $30,000 and $60,000 and we could still be without water," he said.
When Mr Comb laid the pipeline to his station, he was advised it was the "safest and most secure" way of watering his station, safer than sinking a bore.
"I traded off 200 megalitres of allocation to get dollar-for-dollar funding to set up a system off the Lachlan, and now it's useless," he said.
Mr Comb estimated he had just a few weeks water left in his dams, and if the bore was unsuccessful, would need to find a home for his sheep.
"We all could be without water for 12 or 18 months, but I guess we just have to swallow the cost of the bore and hope we can get water," he said.
