Water crisis in west as Lachlan River runs dry MARIAN WILKINSON AND BEN CUBBY October 24, 2009
THOUSANDS of households in western NSW are facing an unprecedented water crisis and the State Government is stepping up plans to help truck water to several towns, while others will be restricted to using water only for critical human needs.
The Lachlan River is expected to cease flowing west of Condobolin within weeks after the decision was taken yesterday to at least halve water flows from the region's biggest dam, Wyangala, on November 1. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Insert: Wyangala Dam 10% full
This is Wyangala Dam, on the Lachlan River near Blayney, NSW. The photo was taken in August 2008, when the dam was holding 10% of its capacity. Since then I believe we have gained another 1%. The dam wall is to the left of the shot. The pale structure you see mid left of photo has a dark base. The demarcation line between dark and light indicates the height of water at full capacity.
Clearly we are still in drought in this region. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bleak outlook for Lachlan irrigators Thu Jul 2, 2009 9:37am AEST
* Map: Wyangala Dam 2808 .. sorry, inside see surrounding towns
Some central west New South Wales irrigators are facing another year of paying for water they will not receive, after a review of the Lachlan River's water allocations.
Minimal inflows into the river mean there is only 50 per cent of water entitlements available for local utilities.
While high security licence holders are receiving a small allocation, those with general security licences are not getting any water.
Wyangala Dam is at 6 per cent capacity and there are fears the Lachlan may run dry if there is not significant rain in the coming months.
The chairman of Lachlan Valley Water, Dennis Moxey, says it is a bleak outlook for irrigators.
"This is the fourth year in a row that we've had ... that, that general security category which is pretty devastating for the people out there who call themselves irrigation farmers and the users of that general security water," he said.
"Once again, they have no ability to earn any income from that licence."
Tough new water restrictions have been introduced to prevent the Lachlan River running dry by summer. .. more .. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/02/2614534.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A telephone hook-up of state officials, community representatives and farmers in the Lachlan Valley confirmed measures that would be taken to cope with the crisis, which follows the failure of spring rains. It is feared that Wyangala could run dry by mid-summer.
'I don't think people understand that, under the present conditions, by next April the dam will have less than 1 per cent left in it,' said the chairman of Lachlan Valley Water, Dennis Moxey.
'Towns like Cowra and Forbes may not have any water, either. There are going to be hundreds, even thousands, of households that will have to truck water in to … live in their houses or they will have to walk away. I never imaged it could get this bad.'
The Department of Water and Energy triggered plans yesterday for slashing flows and supplying water to suffering towns south and west of Condobolin.
The drought gripping the valley has caused the water level in Wyangala dam drop to 6 per cent. At full capacity the dam holds twice the water in Sydney Harbour and helps sustain the 100,000 people in the region.
"The Government will never let a town run out of water,' said the Water Minister, Phillip Costa. 'Government agencies are working with local water utilities in the area on a range of emergency drought works to strengthen town supplies and continue water delivery, should the situation continue to worsen.'
A senior official in the Department of Water and Energy, Peter Christmas, said slashing flows to keep only part of the river flowing had not been tried since the dam was built in 1935.
'I don't think there were any heads in the sand; people were aware of it and hoping against hope that it would have to happen. Now that it's going to happen, it has really hit home.
'The whole Lachlan Valley's been in drought for the seventh year this year, and I'm just absolutely amazed at the resilience of these people. But for some, I don't know whether this will be the last straw.'
Wal Dawson farms beef cattle, merinos and cereal along a Lachlan tributary south of Condobolin, just after the point where the water flows stop.
'The situation for us is unprecedented,' Mr Dawson said. 'My family's been around here since the 1800s and they survived a lot but I don't know if they could survive today, because this is coming on top of eight years of drought.'
Water is expected to stop flowing down the tributary near his property within weeks.
Another farmer, Barry Crouch, said allocating the remaining litres was already becoming a source of tension between those in towns and on farms.
Where Freedom Means a Chance to Work .. With Mahatma Gandhi's ideas in mind, Ela Bhatt raised hope when she organized female labourers in India .. Ela Bhatt. She notes that half of the world's people have no access to clean water and 900 million go to bed hungry every night http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?Message_id=42137387&txt2find=drought $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ A Reality Check From the Brink of Extinction .. Those who run our corporate state have fought environmental regulation as tenaciously as they have fought financial regulation. They are responsible for our personal impoverishment as well as the impoverishment of our ecosystem. .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?Message_id=42676518&txt2find=endgame
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