Narromine $2.00 incl GST
PROUDLY SERVING THE NARROMINE, TRANGIE AND TOMINGLEY REGION
Nervous grain growers wait for rain to stop PAGE 3
Australian first to make NSW a global leader
Thursday, December 2, 2021
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La Niña is here
THE NSW government’s drive to become a major global supplier of critical minerals and high-tech metals will be realised with the establishment of Australia’s fi rst Critical Minerals Hub in the central west. Deputy premier and minister for resources Paul Toole announced the hub near Dubbo earlier this week, while launching NSW’s fi rst Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy.
CAUTION: There are several road and area closures across the Narromine Shire. PHOTO: NARROMINE STAR
By BROOKE CHANDLER
Deputy premier Paul Toole with Australian Strategic Materials chairman Ian Gandel. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
Mr Toole said critical minerals and high-tech metals such as cobalt, nickel and copper will play a vital role in making NSW the number one investment destination for mining and advanced manufacturing. Continued page 2
WHEN it rains, it pours and that is certainly the case for Narromine residents who join the other three-quarters of the state on flood alert. The Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) declaration of La Niña – a climate driver typically associated with wet conditions – appears to have been outrun by already above average rainfall. For the month of November, Narromine beat its 182 millimetre record, dating back to the year 2000. La Niña occurs when there are cooler than average waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean and warmer waters
in the west. This results in stronger than average trade winds and more moisture over northern and eastern Australia. This La Niña is expected to be relatively short lived, but with already full catchments following a La Niña last summer in addition to a wet winter and spring, its impacts are said to be severe. A significant storm with downpours of 66 millimetres took place on Wednesday November 24 evening and into Thursday. The banks of the Macquarie River began to swell and Burrendong Dam’s capacity rose from 127 per cent to 140 per cent across the
same 24 hour period. On Saturday, Water NSW officials notified flows would be increasing from 25,000 megalitres per day to 35,000 megalitres per day as the dam reached the flood mitigation zone. NSW State Emergency Service (SES) western zone commander, David Monk, said the Macquarie River is expected to reach 9.1 metres this week, leaving Narromine on a minor flood alert. “Further rises are possible,” Mr Monk told the Narromine Star, “but that is attributable to more rain which we are forecast to get. “Places like Dubbo and
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Warren will feel the outflow of water from Burrendong a lot more than Narromine due to their geographical location.” Motorists are advised to exercise caution at numerous locations across the shire including all unsealed roads, Burroway Road, Webbs Siding Road and Warren Road, from the Weemabah intersection to Trangie Collie Road intersection. “The team is working very hard at the moment and know that we are in this for the long haul. We have received lots of stupid calls from people who have forgotten the dangers of flooded areas and runing waters,” Mr Monk added.