Tamworth-based SES Superintendent Mitch Parker said it's been the busiest 18 months, but a third La Nina in a row - almost a certainty for summer - would stretch volunteers again.

"We have seen unusually high operational activity right across the state," he told the Leader.

"In particular across the Western Zone here, and our volunteers are constantly being called out."

The Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM) climate outlook for spring shows above average rainfall for much of the country.

Combined with already soaked catchments, drenched soils, full dams and high levels in rivers, it's a recipe for disaster.

"We are preparing ourselves the best we can for the forecasted weather pattern," Superintendent Parker said.

"We're prepping for the worst case scenario, so the continual flooding of our river systems, but to what extent we don't know that yet."

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Expect adverse weather conditions for the months to come, Superintendent Parker warned.

The next six months could be the worst for the disaster agency.

Training in-house and out has ramped up, vehicles and boats are up to date with maintenance and volunteers are restocking supplies and equipment to ensure they're ready at any moment.

Superintendent Parker said they were working on a different ball game now.

"We have seen short rain events like 20-30mm of rain in the catchment is now meaning we're seeing those rises in the rivers," he said.

"There is a far quicker reaction to rainfall, effectively no room to move, because the catchments are soaked.

"We really need people to adhere to the warnings issued."

He said volunteer call outs were both to respond to local emergencies as well as worsening flood emergencies out-of-area around the state.

He said the volunteers try and juggle work and family commitments, but more hands on deck would make light work.

"We're never going to turn more volunteers away," he said.

"Many hands make light work and we have seen an increase in volunteer applications right across the Western Zone and we're working through them with our training section to get on more board so we could always use more.

"We're really supported by our emergency management partners in the RFS, Fire and Rescue NSW and VRA, and we're thankful for them."

On Wednesday, the state government announced the partial merger of the SES and RFS but Superintendent Parker said he was waiting for more detail but that it was concentrated around the back-end operations of both agencies. But it's what's ahead that could really stretch the system.

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