The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed one of the strongest El Niño events on record for the eastern states, and Queensland croquet clubs are already feeling it in their irrigation budgets.

For most clubs the visible signs arrived weeks ago: faster drying on the centre of the lawn, hardpan patches at the edges, and bores running longer to make up for the missing rain. Clubs running on town water have started rationing watering windows. Clubs on tank or bore are paying more in electricity to pump more often.

The forecast for the rest of autumn isn't dramatic, just persistent. Rainfall continues to track below the long-term average for most of southeast Queensland, and the longer-range outlook into winter remains dry.

What clubs can do now is mostly the boring stuff. Wetting agent before the next significant rain. Mowing higher to reduce stress. Tighter rosters on irrigation so it actually runs at the cool ends of the day. None of it solves the problem; all of it slows the damage.

If your club has found something that's worked this season, the CAQ office and ClubHub are interested. Knowing what's worked in Brisbane isn't always knowing what works in Cairns, so the more clubs share, the better the answers get.