Australia: Water shortage crisis

Written by David Fletcher 07 Jun 2019
Australia: Water shortage crisis

Western and central New South Wales faces a water crisis within months unless it rains. The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia has two rivers (Murray and Darling) draining 1/7th of Australia’s land mass. They expect 10% reduced water entitlements in Australia’s most significant agricultural area. In 114 years of record-keeping, 2019 is among the driest years and it is getting worse. The NSW government sent 13 representatives to towns to discuss their water supplies and assess the impact of the prolonged and severe drought on businesses. Burrendong Dam is at 5.9% capacity and even with water restrictions, will be empty within 12 months. There is no ground water to be accessed by bores. Authorities are considering building emergency pipelines. The Bureau of Meteorology has put Australia on an “El Niño WATCH. Meaning a 50% likelihood of El Niño developing. Meanwhile India focuses on acute water challenge in major cities. See

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