As flooding continues to ravage large parts of New South Wales, far west communities are bracing for the impact of downstream flows from the Darling River.
In the last two weeks, the township of Tilpa has been evacuated, while some roads leading into Bourke have been closed.
The river is expected to peak in Tilpa over the next week, possibly reaching 13.1 metres, causing major flooding.
Downstream in Wilcannia, the Darling River may reach around 11 metres and cause minor flooding in some some areas.
State Emergency Service's Dave Rankin said residents should act with the upmost caution over the next couple of months, especially while driving.
"The flooding is slow-moving and quite pervasive in far west New South Wales so the decision to drive through that flood water is made by the driver," he said.
"We're going to ask people that that not be the last decision you ever make.
"[When] people, for whatever reason, believe that their vehicle is above the impact of the flood water … it very rarely ends well."
Mr Rankin said in the last month Walgett, Brewarrina and Bourke all experienced major flooding.
He said the next towns to be hit would be Louth, Tilpa and Wilcannia, before the water moved on to the Menindee Lake system.
Memories of drought still linger
Vidale Station owner and grazier Belinda Bennett's property backs onto the Darling River downstream from Tilpa.
She said her family were in no way complaining about the amount of rain in the last few months, but the flooding had caused some issues while working on the property.
"We won't get wet feet initially around the house, but [the water] has actually come up through our front gate, which is only a kilometre from the main river," she said.
"There's several thousand acres that we can't farm there at the moment.
"But when that water does recede and the feed comes up that'll just be fantastic for us to try and catch up a little bit after the drought … that's still had a huge impact for years."
Menindee area of focus
Tony Webber from WaterNSW said the organisation's main focus was on the already-full Menindee Lakes and trying to prevent major flooding in the town of Menindee.
The lakes already sit at 103 per cent capacity with another 2,000 gigalitres expected to flow into the system by the end of December.
"We're pretty confident we'll be able to again manage this flood event without impacting properties in Menindee," he said.
"This is probably the fourth major event that's come up through the lakes this year and our worst fears haven't been realised."
