Farmers with rights to California water dating back more than a century face sharp cutbacks, the first reduction in their water use since 1977.

Lawmakers and activists say a company shouldn't be allowed to profit from water as drought spreads across Oregon.

Major El Nino events, which typically create extreme weather conditions, immediately sap New Zealand's economic growth and put downward pressure on inflation.

Drought conditions are biting into California's dairy production, which could end up being supportive for international dairy prices, say analysts.

Desalination projects are gaining resonance as drought-proof hydration solutions in parched California.

It takes a gallon (3.785 litres) of water to produce an almond, and almond growers use about 10 per cent of California's water supply every year.

In LA, where residents use an average of 265 litres of water a day, an academic study found that the most affluent neighbourhoods used up to three times more than others.

California is faced with a double whammy of high temperatures and low rainfall exacerbated by an atmospheric pattern that for three years straight has diverted winter storms away.

Drought in much of the country is helping to drive dairy prices higher, but farmgate prices for beef and sheepmeat are weakening.

Drought throughout much of the South Island and dry conditions in parts of the North look set to add urgency to water storage and irrigation schemes.

Rain forecast for this week is unlikely to offset a soil-parching big dry that has put much of the country at serious fire risk and begun to hurt farmers in hot-spot areas.

The Government has no immediate plans to declare drought in areas of the country suffering from extremely dry conditions.

Taps ran dry in Martinborough last Friday after water reservoirs ran out and an alarm supposed to alert the council when supply is low, failed to go off.

This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.

Farmers in the Waikato and parts of Northland say they are battling one of the driest summers in memory.

Farmers living in areas that are increasingly becoming drought hot spots will have to prepare for drier times ahead, a climate scientist says.

Parts of the Waikato are as dry or drier than during last year's severe drought.

This year's drought was one of New Zealand's most extreme and the worst in nearly 70 years, a study has revealed.

Drought took its toll on the trade balance last month. Exports exceeded imports by $157 million, equivalent to 4 per cent of exports.

The rain is here and the grass is growing but some farmers will still be battling the effects of the worst drought in 30 years over the winter months.

The tiny Outback town of Richmond, 400km east of Mt Isa in northwest Queensland, celebrated its annual fossil festival last week.

Drought relief provisions for farmers will continue until the end of September, the Government said.

The worst drought in 40 years could cost the West Coast tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue, a leading West Coast farmer warns.