Victoria’s autumn rainfall plummets
A new CSIRO report, Wealth From Oceans, found that Victoria had suffered an almost 40 per cent decline in autumn rainfall since 1950, and warming of the Indian Ocean has been a big factor.
Bendigo has recorded only 55mm since March 1, making this the sixth year in the past eight to fall below the 15-year average of 96.6mm.
Almond farmer spends $1million on water to stay afloat
A RIVERLAND almond grower who has bought $1 million worth of water to keep his business alive is calling for the State Government to do the same for irrigators for the start of the season.
Renmark grower Richard Smart, 63, said he went into considerable debt to purchase the water.
“If I can go out and lease water in, I can’t understand why the Government can’t go out and lease water and give irrigators a start of five or 10 per cent,” he said.
A parable in China’s water
From The Economist Polluted, poisonous and immune to popular efforts to enforce a clean-up: Tai Lake is a metaphor for the state of China’s politics AP THE plain-clothes police are always there, watching Xu Jiehua. When she goes out, two of them follow by motorcycle. Sometimes an unmarked car joins them, tailing her closely on Continue Reading →
Irrigators at odds over water buyback
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has called on the federal government to speed up the Murray Darling Basin water buyback by spending half of the allocated $3.1 billion in the next three years.
Water industry organisation Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL), however, says the plan puts too much emphasis on purchasing water rights and not enough money into improving irrigation efficiency.
ACF foundation executive director Don Henry says, “The crisis in the Murray-Darling Basin is so severe that the internationally significant Coorong wetlands at the mouth of the Murray River will be dead and Adelaide’s drinking water threatened if more water is not urgently returned to the river.”
Melting mountains ‘time bomb’ for water shortages
From Reuters via the NZ Herald People in mountainous areas such as Nepal rely on melt-water for most of their needs. Photo / Reuters Glaciers and mountain snow are melting earlier in the year than usual, meaning the water has already gone when millions of people need it during the summer when rainfall is Continue Reading →
Business wakes up to peak water
Greenhouse gases have been the big focus of most companies’ environmental efforts for several years, with pollution a close second. But another equally pressing environmental issue has received much less attention: water.
For most companies in the developed world, water is not much of a problem. Water bills are generally a tiny part of overheads, and unless there is a drought or flood, companies can count on it flowing from the tap.
Companies with higher water uses – such as food processors or computer chip makers – may pay more attention, but the increasing scarcity of water around the world, which is being exacerbated by global warming, is forcing a rethink.