The world’s fresh water supplies are almost fully exploited.Almost al, 97 per cent, of the world’s water is salt. Of the fresh water in the world, two thirds is locked up as ice and snow (the cryosphere – to you and me, kid!). Globally, three quarters of the water that is used is used by agriculture. India, China and the United States, use more fresh water than is available. The water level in those nation’s aquifers is falling as a result.The current food crisis has come about largely as a result as the shortfall in available water begins to impact on the cost of irrigation.Â
Dam was not costed, memo reveals Matthew Moore Urban Affairs EditorJuly 2, 2009 THE NSW Government announced construction of a half-billion dollar dam just six weeks after receiving advice from a top Hunter Valley water official that the cost of the project had not been properly studied. A memo from the managing director of Hunter Continue Reading →
Irrigators in the Murray Darling river basin have begun hitting back against their widespread depiction in the media as the cause of the destruction of the Murray River. Olympian Stephanie Rice, sponsored by SunRice, has joined a group called Water4Food to promote the value of irrigation in securing our food supply. Ex-president of the National Continue Reading →
Seven years after the privatisation of the Snowy River Hydroelectricity authority the Snowy River is in a worse state than ever with flows in the upper reaches of the river at four percent of their natural level instead of the 25 percent proposed in the privatisation bill. Pro-river group, the Snowy River Alliance, has sought Continue Reading →
Olympian and Sunrice ambassador, Stephanie Rice, joined farmers, business people, councillors and politicians in the corridors of power on Wednesday to lend her support to the Albury-based Water4Food initiative.
About 70 guests attended the “bipartisan breakfast” at Parliament House to raise the profile of the Water4Food organisation.
Water4Food aims for a balance between water for food production and the environment and to raise awareness of food security.
The strident campaign to increase environmental flows in the Murray Darling Basin has left many irrigators feeling like “common criminals”, former NFF president and leading farm businessman, Peter Corish, said this week.
Speaking at the NFF’s first national congress in Brisbane, Mr Corish said “grassroots” irrigators had been largely excluded from the current water reform process and many believed they were now seen as “rapers and pillagers” in the wider community.
Last week’s Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) crop report flagged a five percent year on year increase in total winter crop production with the 2009-10 forecast sitting at 34.8 million tonnes.
There is predicted to be a one percent increase in acreage, up to 21.9 million hectares.