May came and went very strangely. I knew something was wrong. Almost every May in my life has been wet and miserable. I'm used to it, like sweltering in December. I expect it. I even come to look forward to it, as a chance to huddle in front of the heater, darn the socks, read science fiction while the rain drums on the roof. But not May 2004. No rain at all. It's a sign of the times. And as Dylan said; "the times they are a changin'."

Lo and behold, the answer is in the newspaper.

Sydney, Australia is running out of water. Warragamba Dam, which supplies 80% of the city's water, has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years, to 45.2% of capacity. Hard statistics confirm my soft observations. It's stopped raining in Sydney in May, for the first time in my life on the planet.

The rest of the state (New South Wales) is in big trouble too. Lake Burrendong is at around 20 per cent capacity and dropping. The seven spillway gates have not been raised for three years. The manager of Lake Burrendong State Park recently commented: "If we don't get good winter rains or autumn rains there's not going to be anything here for next summer, and that's when it's going to really hurt."

The state is in its third year of drought, with only 12 per cent of the state's water supply deemed "satisfactory". Dam levels in the Namoi Valley are at 14 per cent. In the Gwydir Valley, dams are at 12 per cent. Menindee Lakes, which feeds into Broken Hill, are just 2 per cent full -- the lowest in the state. Two communities are already having water trucked in to meet their needs, at Carters opal fields near Walgett, and Bribbaree near Young. Water restrictions are in force in Burcher, Cargelligo, Casino, Coffs Harbour, Condobolin, Cowra, Forbes, Fifield, Nyngan, Orange, Parkes, Trundle, Tottenham, Tullamore and Tullibigeal.

This is not just a severe drought though. It's man-made. Even widespread rain would not solve the underlying problem. The weather has changed, and we've changed it. We've strip-mined everything in sight. We've cleared land everywhere and put up suburbs. We've polluted the rivers with industrial waste. We've irrigated the crops we rely upon, until there was no more water to irrigate with. We've wasted water for decades, with inefficient toilets, swimming pools near the beach, beautifully wasteful urban gardens, and even more tragically wasteful thinking. And now we're reaping the whirlwind.

More news.

The Prime Minister, fresh from his trip to LA to flog Arnie Australia's natural gas and Washington to schmooze with his buddy George Bush, hoists himself onto the water wagon like a dry drunk. Convening a meeting of the Australian State Premiers, he announces an absurdly late national plan to save our river systems and cure decades of over-allocation of water. Like the mortals in Jet Li's movie The One, his slo-mo response is perplexing, and typical of our great political thinkers -- only act in a crisis.

One smart cookie at the CSIRO had a good idea, but it'll cost us megabucks. He wants to convert seawater into fresh water. Well, there's plenty of that on an island surrounded by the sea. But what about the cost of freight, Sherlock? So much for the Aboriginals or the people who live in Central Australia...

I can see it now.

Visit Australia's interior; see the wild terrain! Mingle with the locals and enjoy your stay in a dishy, air-conditioned hotel. See the beds of dried out rivers! Visit areas where crocodiles once lived. See the land where trees once grew and animals once thrived. Watch the documentary explain how earlier generations destroyed the country!

But whatever you do, don't mention the water...

See you all in the next issue! 

Ian McPherson
DownUnder Editor