The small communities of Wymah and Granya say they feel "cut off" after the suspension of the ferry service connecting the border towns.
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With low water levels in Lake Hume causing the NSW Department of Transport, Roads and Maritime Services to suspend the ferry on Thursday, residents are forced to drive at least an hour to cross over into the other state.
A spokesman said with water levels sitting below 16 per cent of capacity in Lake Hume, the free vehicle ferry could not operate safely between Wymah, in NSW, and Granya, in Victoria.
Road users are advised to use Bethanga Bridge and travel through Albury, adding up to one hour to travel time or via Jingellic, adding up to one hour and 15 minutes to a journey.
And the community are worried about access for emergency services.
Talgarno Primary School business manager Cherie Wright-Pearce said the closure is making life harder for "already struggling farmers".
"Farmers are already doing it tough with the drought and this just adds time and money to that," she said.
"Some farmers have property on both sides of the water and now have to drive over an hour to get to their land which they can see from the other side.
"They rely on the support of the community and that is on both sides of the water.
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"It cuts people out from community events.
"For the water to be this low is quite shocking, I can't remember the last time the ferry had to stop because of the lack of water.
"We have students which have to use the ferry to get to school so hopefully there is something they can do before school is back in a few weeks."
Ms Wright-Pearce said the ferry closure over Easter "impacts a lot it people".
"It is usually a pretty busy time for people to be out and about camping and visiting family so it makes it hard for people to get places," she said.
"A lot of tourism goes through there as well and the closure just stops people from coming through.
"We rely on emergency services on both sides of the border and if a fire breaks out it could be really dangerous."
Despite her frustration Ms Wright-Pearce said "unfortunately it is out of our control".
"We just have to pray for rain and we know they will get the ferry up and running as soon as they can," she said.
"We are a big community out here and I know everyone will help each other out."
Roads and Maritime will notify the community when water levels return to safe operating levels.