Skip to main content

Water


Have you noticed that I have been referring to this trip as the River Run? That's because we are going into the area of Australia's great inland rivers.

Well this isn't a river but is an irrigation channel fed from the Murrumbidgee River. We are entering country where channels like this criss-cross the land. Australia's water systems are in trouble because of the extended drought so I am sure there is going to be some discussion on water usage over the next few days ... like why is the water in ditches where apparently up to 80% of the water volume is lost through evaporation and water seepage?

But first let's see what a difference a little water can make. I will show you that tomorrow.
Labels:

Comments

  1. JulieJanuary 13, 2010 at 11:36 AM

    Even just twenty years ago, here in Australia, water was an undervalued resource, undervalued by the urban majority. It was a right: "I paid my rates. I get water." And woe-betide any restauranteur who dared charge for the bloomin' stuff.

    It is a totally different scene today. Now there is extensive litigation over who owns what rights and who has the ability to on-sell and can the government "resume" a bought allocation.

    From the sublime to the ridiculous. However, it has bought water to the fore as a resource, indeed, a precious resource.

    80% eh?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joan ElizabethJanuary 13, 2010 at 9:39 PM

    Yes 80% wastage, I knew it would be big but was shocked to discover how big.

    I was also surprised to see how extensive the network of channels is, all of them brimming with water ... these irrigation schemes provide amazing quantities of water.

    ReplyDelete
  3. freefallingJanuary 14, 2010 at 4:41 PM

    Isn't it an amazing statistic?
    I remember being shocked when I recently heard that number too.
    Round these parts open channels are being replaced by pipes (it's a really big deal).
    Already, even before all the stages are complete, we are noticing a difference in local lakes.
    You can read here:
    http://www.ourwater.vic.gov.au/programs/water-grid/wimmera-mallee

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joan ElizabethJanuary 14, 2010 at 5:55 PM

    Hi Letty, when we get out to Mildura I make mention of the great work being done in the Wimmera-Mallee to replace the ditches with pipes ... a costly but important exercise.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coolibah?

Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.
13 comments
Read more

The end

I retire from the workforce this week and to celebrate have decided to retire my current blogs and start afresh with a single consolidated blog -  My Bright Field  - to record the delights of my new life adventure. If you are interested follow me over there.  I will still be Sweet Wayfaring and collecting Royal Hotels.  The delights I discover along the way will appear together with my gardens and towns where I live.
Post a Comment
Read more

Brown streams and soft dim skies

I gave my husband a thick book on the history of Australian Art for Christmas. It documents just how long it took the artists to paint what they actually saw -- at the hands of early artists our wild Australian landscapes looked like rolling green English countryside. Today's photo has "that look" so I have referenced words from the poem describing England. It was Christmas Eve. We were camped by the Tumut River in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. A shady spot planted with exotic trees from the "old world" and with the soft burble of a swiftly flowing stream. Bliss after a hot afternoon drive. But the old world dies slowly, a hot roast for Christmas dinner followed by plum pudding is one of those traditions that just won't die. Knowing we were going to be on the move on Christmas Day we settled for having our traditional hot meal on Christmas Eve this year.
2 comments
Read more