TAMWORTH'S mayor has one thing front of mind should he get an audience with the prime minister at today's "bush summit".
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Col Murray will be one among a huge gathering of regional and government leaders descending on Dubbo today for the Daily Telegraph's drought session.
While many communities and regional cities in NSW are crying out for long-term solutions for their respective water woes, Cr Murray wanted to bring another priority to the table.
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He said regional economies, at large, were being stung by the drought and the state and federal governments could help get money ticking-over in these communities.
"There's not enough support for other businesses," he said.
"What the state and federal governments need to do is put funding into job creating infrastructure to get the money circulating in the local economies.
"They can't bring the rains, but they can certainly ease the burden."
The summit will feature addresses from the PM and opposition leader Anthony Albanese, along with panel discussions about jobs, agriculture, land management, water, social issues, tourism and transport.
The CWA, NSW Farmers, Cotton Australia, the Regional Australia Institute, NSW Minerals Council and NSW Business Chamber leaders will also be there.
Fellow Tamworth councillor Russell Webb will also be at the Dubbo summit and he plans to push the case to get a Dungowan Dam expansion expedited.
He said, without it, the city would struggle to grow and attract business.
The New England region's water plight was under the national spotlight with ABC News Breakfast profiling a number of councils and businesses and how they were dealing with the drought.
Tamworth Regional Council water director Bruce Logan said the city was in a "very serious situation" with level five restrictions only a matter of months away without any rain.
Chaffey Dam was at 22.6 per cent capacity on Wednesday morning and level five measures come into effect once it hits 20 per cent.
Mr Logan will give an update to local media about the current water situation on Thursday morning.