'No hope' of drought-breaking rains for Qld

Weather forecasters say hopes of drought-breaking rain in Queensland are over, because the La Nina pattern has petered out.

Forecasters say the recent La Nina caused the flooding in Queensland last summer but ended too soon to be considered a drought-breaker.

Senior climatologist Brad Murphy says it is about to get a lot drier.

"Up in the north you've had most of the rain you can expect for the next six months, until the next wet season," he said.

"There is going to be the odd rainfall around over the dry period, but farmers shouldn't be counting on getting any more rain between now and the next wet season.

"It's very hard to say, I mean we can't put one season down to global warming if we're looking at over a long period of time," he added.

"The monsoon finished a little bit earlier than we would have liked and the rainfall in the last couple of months has been quite low."

Doctor Roger Stone from the University of Southern Queensland says the chances of drought-breaking rain over the next three months are only about 10 per cent.

He says the focus now should be on capturing any rain, introducing new technology, and making sure water is not wasted.

"There's some engineering opportunities in desalinisation plants, even in some cloud-seeding research that seems to have been improved over recent years, so I think there's opportunities like that that we have to explore," he said.

The Queensland Water Commission says south-east residents should be prepared for another 12 months of tight water restrictions.

Spokesman Gerald Tooth says Level Six restrictions will be kept in place to make sure there is enough water to last through another year of drought.

Meanwhile rural lobby group Agforce says there will be severe ramifications for farmers and businesses in Queensland if the Federal Government drought relief is prematurely removed.

Agforce Chief Executive Officer Brett de Hayr says the Government is reviewing exceptional circumstances declarations and the forecasts should confirm that the drought is a long way from over.