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Are you talking about the USA or Australia? Water shortages are normal in Australia and that has been the case for a long time. As a result water usage is highly regulated by local water authorities across the country, in an effort to ensure that a worst case scenario does not happen.
Its only really the murray- darling basin that is big enough to warrant federal legislation, all the states that form part of that catchment signed over the regulation rights to a single federal authority in 2007.
I was talking about the US. Thanks for the info. It sounds like Australia already has been facing the situation parts of the US are only now beginning to get an inkling of.
Well, what I'm saying is that there will come a time, possibly sooner rather than later, when water rights will have to be disregarded, and regional, or perhaps even federal government, will have to re-think water rights and allocation altogether. Currently, government doesn't actively manage water supplies. Water law that was established in the 1800's or earlier serves as a regulator. Climatologists are saying that existing water law will at some point have to be suspended, as some regions enter a state of water emergency.
The important thing to note is that the Murray-Darling system flows through 3 states and 4 states rely upon it as their main water system and the water rights are already regulated at a federal level. So you already have a point of difference there. Also unlike California (and many of the Western States) there isn't the use of water from the system to irrigate or supply water to arid areas. There are plenty of cities in the Southwest and California which only exist because they draw water from the Columbia river system.
Secondly, the Murray-Darling is also home to a large aquifier system which means it's not only the water in the river that is regulated but the aquifier as well.
Thirdly, Australians are quicker to institute water saving measures. For instance, California waited until the system was bone dry to institute water restrictions whereas water restrictions come into play once water levels fall below 65% in Australia's Eastern state cities.
I was talking about the US. Thanks for the info. It sounds like Australia already has been facing the situation parts of the US are only now beginning to get an inkling of.
California was in a water crisis ten years ago when I was living there, it was just that people refused to do anything about it, or they thought it could be fixed without affecting their lives. One of the big issues is that the bulk of the Californian population which is in southern california live below the agriculturally intensive area and both require more water than the Columbia river system can supply.
Are you talking about the USA or Australia? Water shortages are normal in Australia and that has been the case for a long time. As a result water usage is highly regulated by local water authorities across the country, in an effort to ensure that a worst case scenario does not happen.
Its only really the murray- darling basin that is big enough to warrant federal legislation, all the states that form part of that catchment signed over the regulation rights to a single federal authority in 2007.
Yeah, this. Water rights are very very important. Driest country on earth!
Also unlike California (and many of the Western States) there isn't the use of water from the system to irrigate or supply water to arid areas. There are plenty of cities in the Southwest and California which only exist because they draw water from the Columbia river
This is not true. The Murray Darling water is used to irrigate huge swathes of agriculture. The Riverina, Riverland, MIA and 50% of Adelaide's drinking water come to mind immediately.
Edited to add that google tells me
Quote:
It contains over 40% of all Australian farms, which produce wool, cotton, wheat, sheep, cattle, dairy produce, rice, oil-seed, wine, fruit and vegetables for both domestic and overseas markets. As Australia's most important agricultural region, the Basin produces one third of Australia's food supply and supports over a third of Australia's total gross value of agricultural production.
Three quarters of Australia's irrigated crops and pastures are grown in the Basin.
California was in a water crisis ten years ago when I was living there, it was just that people refused to do anything about it, or they thought it could be fixed without affecting their lives. One of the big issues is that the bulk of the Californian population which is in southern california live below the agriculturally intensive area and both require more water than the Columbia river system can supply.
That would be the Colorado River you're talking about. It is so over appropriated that it rarely reaches its terminus in the Sea of Cortez.
Here in southern New Mexico we have been in drought for some time but we have a very large aquifer (the Rio Grande Basin) that has seen us through and will for a long time to come.
The desert southwest of the US is full of reservoirs (very low now) and there are a number of large river that flow out of the Rockies through the SW. A very different situation than Alice Springs.
I wonder if Australia can build lots of desalination plants along the coasts and I understand that new technologies are making them cheaper every year. You could then build water pipelines to supply places around the country (potentially like Alice) that are experiencing water shortages.
I wonder if Australia can build lots of desalination plants along the coasts and I understand that new technologies are making them cheaper every year. You could then build water pipelines to supply places around the country (potentially like Alice) that are experiencing water shortages.
The tropical north is inundated by water for a large part of the year, making reservoirs like Lake Argyle viable for sustaining large scale agriculture. The only issue is the lack of population......... and crocodiles ;-) Lake Argyle Photos and Video
Water is easily found throughout eastern Australia due to the Great Artesian Basin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Artesian_Basin, so its really only parts of inland NT, central WA and tracts of SA where water is truely scarce at times, except when they're under metres of flood water as tropical weather systems move south.
I wonder if Australia can build lots of desalination plants along the coasts and I understand that new technologies are making them cheaper every year. You could then build water pipelines to supply places around the country (potentially like Alice) that are experiencing water shortages.
We have a rusty 7 year old 1.2 billion dollar desalination plant near Brisbane that has almost never been used.
Last edited by danielsa1775; 06-17-2016 at 02:14 AM..
We have a rusty 7 year old 1.2 billion dollar desalination plant near Brisbane that has almost never been used.
perth and Adelaide too.
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