Woman’s Day Australia – August 26, 2019

T

here are young children in

parts of the Upper Hunter

in NSW who are having

their baths in buckets

so the water can be recycled for

the two loads of washing each

household is allowed.

Soon even that scant allocation

of water may evaporate as the

worst drought in history’s deadly

grip on Australia forces farmers

off the land as millions of

hectares of pasture turn to dust.

Nearly 500km north of the

Hunter Valley, in the Queensland

town of Stanthorpe, the

situation is so dire, residents are

now down to using less than 120

litres each a day – the average

Australian shower uses at least

55 litres. Warwick is also facing

a zero-water crisis, yet will have

to provide water to Stanthorpe

• until there’s none left.
  Just over the border in the
  NSW town of Tenterfield, one
  bore is only able to replenish
  about half of what the town’s
  dam is losing. The dam will be
  empty within 200 days.

ONLY DAYS TO GO

At Walcha, a beef and sheep

farming town on the NSW

northern tablelands, where

water has never been a scarce

resource, the townsfolk are now

less than 60 days away from

completely running out. Their

desperate neighbours at Guyra

are already trucking in water.

Trucks are shipping in water

in several towns and villages

across NSW and Queensland.

The NSW Government has

already committed $15 million

to get water to places like

Menindee, Pooncarie and

Tibooburra. Orange, Narromine,

Cobar and Nyngan will also run

out of water within months.

The townsfolk of Murrurundi,

near Scone, already know what

it’s like to live without one of our

most basic needs, with the town

supply running out of water

weeks ago – all their water is

trucked in now.

But for some of the bigger

hubs, such as Dubbo and

Tamworth, life-saving water

trucks are not an option. There

are just too many people who

need water. Tamworth’s water

supply is fast disappearing and

Lake Keepit, which feeds the

vast Namoy Valley and is the

size of Sydney Harbour – ran

dry months ago.

Add to that the ever-present

threat of fire, which is keeping

many community leaders up at

night, because if flames were to

take hold, there are no dams or

rivers with water to refill tankers

to fight a bushfire.

Each tale is shocking, each

situation is dire. And they’re just

a handful of the life-changing

issues facing a long list of towns

for thousands of kilometres

across both states as their land

is turned into dust bowls by the

worstdroughtonrecord.

LocalGovernmentNSW

president Linda Scott said

regional cities and towns are

preparing for a day zero that’s

less than 12 months away, with

some expected to face it within

three to six months.

“And in some areas, it’s

probably a matter of weeks,”M

Scott told news.com.au.

“This is very serious. Carting

water in trucks for hundredso

kilometres on dirt roads is

going to be the only way some

councils can provide drinking

water to locals.”

Authorities say storage level

have dropped 30 per centover

the past 18 months, whichis

an unprecedented rate ofdam

water depletion.

And there are dire forecasts

rainfall could be just a quarter

of the average in spring. Our

farmers need help like they’ve

never needed it before.

“The lack of rain and

inflows into our dams and

rivers has hit record lows and

communities are in real danger

of running out of water,’’ NSW

Water Minister Melinda Pavey

confirmed last week.

‘THE WORST WE’VE SEEN’

“Catchments that have been

historically reliable like the

Upper Hunter, Peel Valley and

Central West are now facing

a critical shortage of water.

“This means no water for our

families to drink, to wash their

clothes, our children to bathe,

and of course to keep our

industries alive andjobsinour

communities. Majorcitieslike

Tamworth, Scone,Orange,

Bathurst and Dubbo

run the risk of

running out of

water in the next

12 months.’’

Walcha publican

Graeme Hislop

doesn’t need to hear

the figures to know

how dire the situation

has become in his

town. He sees it in the

eyes of the locals.

“It’s hurting big

time. You have

90-year-old cockies

saying it’s the worst

drought they’ve ever

seen,’’ Graeme says.

“They’resaying the

cattlearejustframes

with leather on them, they’re so

poor. I’d say even the last four

weeks morale has plummeted.

We’ve had nine inches of rain

this year to date, which is worse

than last year, and there’s no

talk of it. And we get 48 inches

normally for the year.

“I’m a bush boy born and

bred and I haven’t heard

people talk the way they’re

talking. The despair is huge.

I’m talking pretty hard men,”

the publican adds.

“Things are grim. And

realistically, we might even be

doinga littlebetterthan the

guysoutwest.Thingsare going

southreallyquickly.’’

Ms

g

of

e

ls

r

m

r

e

j

ange, southreallyquickly.

‘The despair

is huge. I’m

talking pretty

hard men’

Words: Dan Proudman. Pictures: Peter Lorimer.

Water contractors

empty 37,000 litres

of water into a

makeshift reservoir.

Murrurundi town water

supervisor James Davis

shows the height the

dam should reach.

WD 37