NEW ZEALAND Southland, Otago farmers offered drought relief 2 Feb, 2018 1:29pm 2 minutes to read Drought-stricken farmers in Southland and parts of Otago are the latest to be offered special relief payments. Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said today that the Government’s Rural Assistance Payments would be extended to the districts of Southland, Invercargill, Gore, Clutha, Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes. The payments, available from Monday to January 21 next year, help farmers meet essential living expenses and have already been offered to farmers in the Lower North Island and the West Coast this season. Sepuloni…

Above: Irrigation water runs along the dried-up ditch between the rice farms to provide water for the rice fields in Richvale, Calif., May 1, 2014. A U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday shows all of San Diego County is now in a moderate drought. The Category 1 declaration comes a year after water officials declared the region’s drought was over. According to the Drought Monitor, a “moderate drought” means ongoing dry conditions could cause damage to crops, and a possibility of water shortages could develop. Warm and dry conditions have dominated the region for the past six months, with the exception of one storm…