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
The massive floods in Louisiana that killed five people and made 20,000 homeless last week contained as much water as generally flows out of the Mississippi in three years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the USA will this week declare the floods as a one in five hundred year event. This is the Continue Reading →
Israel’s Ben Gurion University, this week released a report showing that half the world’s population will face chronic water shortages in the next two decades. The report indicates that one billion people already deal with water shortages on a daily basis. Evidence of this trend was confirmed in independent reports this week from cities as Continue Reading →
Scientists, environmentalists, anglers and the fishing industry have raised concerns about a fifteen million dollar plan by the Federal Government to kill Carp in the Murray Darling River system using a strain of the herpes virus. An invasive species and bottom feeder that stirs up mud, carp now make up eighty percent of the bio-mass Continue Reading →
A cholera outbreak in Juba, South Sudan is threatening 15,000 refugees, as the government struggles to provide drinking water to the parched region. Oxfam reported one year ago that the water treatment plants and ground water supplies were unable to keep up with the increasing refugee population. For the last twelve months, the government has Continue Reading →
Lockyer resident Diane Bruhn has produced evidence showing that clearing riverine trees increases sedimentation and increases flood risk. She said that the Queensland Government has used the recent floods as an excuse to repeal the sections of the water act controlling clearing of land in the riparian zone of Queensland’s rivers and streams.
Robin McConchie QLD Country Hour The Queensland Government has passed sweeping changes to rural land and water regulations. It’s amended 18 pieces of legislation, to implement some of the recommendations of the Floods Inquiry. The changes include extending the expiry date for water licences from 10 to 99 years, and removing the need to get a Continue Reading →