After one of its driest summers on record, irrigation restrictions have been put in force in Southland for the first time.
Scientists says the extreme conditions are another example of the effects of climate change, with weather records tumbling in the last month alone.
Dry, brown paddocks are becoming common in southern regions and they have never seen it so bad.
Environment Southland chief executive Rob Phillips said: "It's been the driest March ever recorded in Southland and it's certainly been a very dry summer, so this is a really extreme event."
The south got just 17mm of rain last month, it usually gets 90mm.
MetService said it was the driest since 1947 and the driest summer period on record.
"You can see the Oreti River running at about three cubic metres a second ... usually it's about 10 to 11 cubic metres," Phillips said.
With river levels low, the regional council forced farmers to shut off all irrigation systems immediately on Thursday for two weeks.
It has since lifted restrictions for those who access water from the upper Mataura River catchment were it is "less critical".
Farmer Matthew Tayler said: "For Environment Southland to flick it off overnight ... yeah ... we're in the s***."
It is a stark contrast to the North Island's east coast which had floods just last week - three times the rainfall it would normally receive in March.
NIWA forecaster Chris Brandolino told 1News: "With climate change, some areas will see a lot more of the 'bingeness' where you get a lot of nothing and then the heaven's open up."
Climate scientist James Renwick from Victoria University of Wellington said: "It's not surprising the extremes have been so extreme lately. Very wet in the North Island and really, really dry down south ... It's pretty remarkable at the moment."
He said these events are the product of climate change.
"The climate's warmed about one degree or a little over one degree so far ... so another half of a degree on top of that, you might expect to see the extremes becoming up to twice as bad as they are now."
NIWA said it is likely the La Niña weather pattern will continue for the next three months. Temperatures are likely to be warmer than average, but with normal rainfall levels - something farmers are crying out for in the south.
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