Conditions in Australia’s most important farming region are the worst on record and are not expected to get better any time soon. Rivers are at critical levels in the massive Murray-Darling Basin, officials said Tuesday, and more dry weather is predicted.

The amount of water entering the Murray River is at a record low, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission said, with no end of the seven-year drought in sight. The basin, which stretches through Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, is considered Australia’s premier farming region, accounting for some 40 percent of the nation’s agricultural production.

The Australian reported September 2: “Australia’s biggest river system is coming out of its fifth-driest winter in more than 115 years and the forecast is for more dry weather. The Murray Darling Basin Commission’s latest drought update, released today, paints a picture of the worst conditions since records began in 1892.”

“We’re continuing to establish new records that we don’t particularly wish to establish,” the commission’s chief executive Wendy Craik said as she released the update. “There’s really no relief in sight. I think we can say the drought’s continuing to worsen.”

Even if the region were to receive good rains, Craik says it would take several wet years for the river system to recover. Drought, combined with irrigation, has caused so much damage that the freshwater lower lakes are turning to acid.

While Craik says there should be enough water for “critical human needs” until next winter, she says there will be little water for irrigation.

The National Climate Center says it has been the driest seven-year period for the region in more than a century.

Biblical prophecy warns of such weather curses. For more on the prophetic significance of Australia’s ongoing drought, read “Why You Should Be Concerned About Australia’s Drought” and Australia—Where to Now?