THE UNFOLDING WATER CRISIS AT THE THIRD POLE
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-25/climate-change-the-third-pole-under-threat/7657672
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At the top of the world a climate disaster is unfolding that threatens the lives of more than a billion people.
Don't think we would be attractive Robi. There are plenty of towns running out of water here in Australia and we aren't protecting what water we have left in this country.
We need to re-assess how we use and store water here. ie agriculture (rice and cotton growing which take up lots of water ) and storm water run off. Rivers not having enough water to keep them healthy.
How much water here is lost by not trapping,cleaning and re-using water. Using up all the water basins. There are still states with water restrictions. Our population is growing fast and our water supplies are dwindling. Our population size should be determined by what water we are going to have available to us in the future. Without water we have nothing.
We have a rain water tank Sandi, we use it for drinking and cooking, it fills up off of a small area of our verandah, the water that comes off the rest of the roof just goes down the drain pipes into the ground, if every one could harness the water that comes off the roof of their house it would go a long way to helping solve the water problem... I recall my grandfather saying the lochs that were built on the Murray would eventually lead to water shortage through SA, it seems he wasn't too far off the mark...
Deanna we have two tanks and now in SA it's law for new buildings to have rainwater tanks installed as part of their plans. Living in the city it's not advisable to drink the water. Too much pollution over the years.
Most of our older houses have rainwater tanks.
The problem is not only with the Murray, the whole system is in crisis. There is too much water being taken out upstream and the rivers just aren't flowing like they used to.
We have a filter on our tank Sandi, unfortunately pollution is in everthing these days.
You are so right about the drawing of the water from the river systems over there, we have so much water up in the Kimberlys but no govt wants to spend the money to bring it down, a never ending supply there....
And bringing the water down would create so much employment akin to the Snowy River Scheme in the old days. We don't have governments with vision these days.
We have an old house Deanna and in the past there were lots of factories around, and a block away were the railway yards and workshops . All gone now of course.
I so agree, I've been on about this for years now, we had a minister over here who wanted to pipe it down back in the '80's but no Govt would hear of it, Libs took it to an election back then and it was knocked right on the head... they lost the election by a long shot. There would be enough water to take down through the deserts to SA and the South of WA, and as you say, all the employment in between, could you imagine what we could produce with water on the deserts... and if the WA Govt were to sell the water to SA (and even the other States that needed it) it could get them the cash that the State is so desparate in need of now since the mining bust...
We need solar powered desal plants.
Perth actually has 2 desalination plants that now supply 40% of our water and we still remain on restricted use, apparently re-cycling of water into our Aquifers is being considered. We probably need a further 3 desalination plants to cover our growing population.
Viv, what about the recycling plant that's been built at Mundaring Weir, when is that going to be up and running? looks like a white elephant to me at present...
Good topic Sandi. Makes us all think.
Even our very dry areas where people cannot survive living, because of water needs, could be made fine for homes and people if we brought water ie even desert areas.
As you said employment etc. would be good and useless land made liveable.
Hopefully Viv the rain we have had this year may help to fill the aquifer basins. Particularly the ones where they have had floods this year.
We also have a De-salination Plant. They doubled the size during construction. It cost $1.83 billion to construct and now costs $ 2.5 million a week to run. At least our dams are doing well this year, especially since BOM told us that we wouldn't have much rain this year.
Storage ML Cap level
Mt Bold 45,879 72.0%
South Para 44,563 34.8%
Myponga 26,838 96.5%
Little Para 20,607 49.1%
Kangaroo Creek 18,728 31.2%
Millbrook 16,323 68.5%
Happy Valley 12,633 86.0%
Warren 4,780 100.0%
Barossa 4,491 92.6%
So with what rain we have had, plus the last few days and what is to come we should be in a good position by summer.
That is truly frightening Sandi. Where are we all heading? Water shortage may lead to wars more than anything else and Australia would be an attractive prospect.