No worries - the escalation of coal mining means that farms are being de-watered hand over fist in NSW's coalfields. So the solution has already been found - give up agriculture in favour of mining (too bad that the coal runs out after a few decades).

Rivers are wrecked, creeks disappear, whole catchments are desiccated. So drought or no drought, farming is finished in these areas and this is on the increase. Drive past Singleton and you'll see the scale of the destruction. Rehabilitation is a joke - the plantings are never watered and, deprived of shade, wither away in no time. Anyway the rubble which now replaces the surface soil is unuseable.

Now the Liverpool Plains are under threat from BHP Billiton's latest venture - this will continue the process by breaching and draining the aquifers under the plains, and by wrecking the Mooki and the Namoi Rivers. These rivers run into the Murray-Darling river system, already on its death bed. Good work, NSW politicians - especially Minister for Mineral Resources Ian Macdonald and Planning Ministger Frank Sartor.

I've just come across this discussion: it's been interesting to say the least. There's one comment that I think sums this up:-

"You are in the country because YOU want to be there and then want the rest of the country to dip into their pockets each time the inevitable happens."

That's so silly. Why is Australia so amazingly urbanised? Partly due to silly attitudes like this, which are "your problem, talk to my shoulder 'cos I'm not raising my hand to talk to you".

How viable would a city like Sydney or Melbourne be without the rural areas to provide spaces to play, grow wine, and more? Perhaps that a cheeky comment for me to make: really a lot of people are amazingly selfish and domineering when it comes to talking about regional places.

Here's a simple way of looking at drought:-
Firstly, it happens. This is an extremely dry place. Get used to it.
Secondly, you have no right to live in a city, and you over there have no right to live in the country. Actually none of us have a right to live anywhere, we're just fortunate. So appreciate what you've got (whatever it may be) and think for one moment of someone else's lot in life.
Thirdly, there are poor agricultural practices. There's poor urban practices too, very poor. All of them are caused by humans, who are imperfect, but ingenious. So quit carping about the problems and get on with it.
Fourthly, the solution is not to sterilise land and kick people off: that simply devalused people, and is a surrender of our abilities. Things can be fixed, not abandoned.
Fifthly, cities are not for everyone. If you don't like that too bad. Similarly, open spaces and small communities are not for everyone either. As an aside, as a gay man the first time anyone harrassed me was when I moved to Sydney, the queerest city in Oz: in my home town of 2,800 no-one ever said anything. Ever.

On the whole, everyone, keep thinking and learn, discussion is a great thing.