For a Government that insists it's dedicated to helping farmers and communities through the drought, it was extraordinary.

The Premier had no idea NSW's drought coordinator, Jock Laurie, had been sacked.

Water Minister Melinda Pavey, a Nationals MP, made the decision and then left the country for a ministerial trip to Israel.

Gladys Berejiklian's office was blindsided and had to scramble.

Let the bloodletting begin.

"Perhaps if the Nats cared more about their communities than their irrigator donors and mates, we wouldn't be in this mess," a Government source told the ABC this week.

It's clear NSW's devastating drought has driven deep divisions between the Liberals and Nationals.

Few knew of the decision to sack Mr Laurie — it wasn't widely discussed within the Nationals, nor was it taken to Cabinet.

When news first emerged at Macquarie Street that the drought co-ordinator had been sacked, it took the Government 20 hours to release a statement.

In it, Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced a new Office of Drought Response would be set up.

Who will run it and when it will start operating is still unknown.

The whole episode has been embarrassing for the Premier.

It displayed a lack of cohesiveness between the Liberals and the Nationals and exacerbated existing anger from Liberals towards their Coalition partner's handling of the drought.

"The Nats discovered there was a drought about a week after the media did," a Liberal MP told the ABC.

Another Liberal source also felt the Nationals were slow to respond.

"How did the Nats leave us so unprepared for the drought when they've had so many billions of dollars in assets sales?" the source said, adding that "they squandered it".

Inside Nationals ranks, MPs are frustrated at the Liberals perceived lack of drought understanding and believe the Government's agenda is too focused on big infrastructure projects in Sydney.

It's no secret Mr Barilaro is now being bolshy when it comes to securing funds for the drought and his demands are increasing.

And he's been known to threaten to resign or blow up the Coalition agreement when he doesn't get his way.

Privately some Liberal MPs fear he's leveraging the drought to force the Government's hand, and for them it's starting to wear thin.

The Coalition seems to be on a collision course over NSW's big dry.

And, there's no end in sight.