Drought Parched Australia becomes a nation of water misers
Pastor Dale Morgan
Drought Parched Australia becomes a nation of water misers*
By James Grubel
Reuters
Tuesday, February 13, 2007; 6:15 PM
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Glenda Way turns on the shower tap and reaches for
a bucket, catching drops until the water is warm enough for her wash.
Each day for the past year, Way, 58, has collected a bucket of fresh
water which she later pours on the parched rose garden of her home north
of Australia's largest city of Sydney.
"Everyone is doing it," Way told Reuters. "When you get a whole bucket
of water from one shower, it makes you realize how much has been going
down the drain."
Way is one of a growing army of Australian water misers, who are finding
new ways to live with tough restrictions on water use as much of the
nation enters its sixth year of drought.
Faced with record low dam levels, Australia's major cities have
introduced limits on household water use, and city dwellers are sharing
the pain of a drought that has devastated rural production and cut 0.5
percent from economic growth.
Householders are responsible for only 9 percent of Australia's water
consumption but all major cities, except the rain-drenched tropical
northern city of Darwin, have imposed restrictions on water use over the
past five years.
In the suburbs of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, the
lush green lawns which were once a hallmark of Australian suburbia, have
mostly turned brown after authorities banned the use of sprinklers.
In most areas, public fountains have been turned off, taps have been
removed from beachside fresh-water showers, and gardens can only be
hand-watered on designated days.
In the largest city of Sydney, householders face fines of A$220 ($171)
if they are caught watering gardens outside of set times on Wednesdays
and Sundays, or if they are spotted hosing down the pavement or yard.
LOTS OF DIRTY CARS
In the second largest city of Melbourne, 100 water officers in 30 cars
are on suburban patrols around the clock, issuing fines to people who
waste water. Repeat offenders can have their water supplies cut.
In the dry and dusty nation's capital Canberra, authorities have banned
people from washing their cars, saying cars can only be cleaned at
commercial car washes which recycle their water.
"There are an awful lot of dirty cars around Canberra. I wish they'd
come in here," Anthony Tammett, who runs the city's biggest commercial
car wash told Reuters.
The impact of the water restrictions has been noted in many different
ways. Hardware stores report higher than usual sales of buckets and
suppliers of rainwater tanks are struggling to keep up with demand, with
delays of up to eight weeks on orders.
Landscape gardeners report business is booming as people rip up their
lawns and reconfigure their gardens with native plants, paving, and
water-saving irrigation systems.
Sydney landscape designer Simon Mann said the drought had also changed
attitudes, with customers now saying water conservation was a key to
garden makeovers, compared to a few years ago when water use was rarely
mentioned by clients.
"Irrigation used to be considered as a lazy way of watering the garden.
Now people are using irrigation to minimize the water they use," he said.
In Australia's national parliament, a 4,500 room building set into a
hillside and covered in grass, fountains and water features have been
turned off and the air-conditioning has been set two degrees Celsius
higher to save water.
In the nearby diplomatic district of Yarralumla, foreign embassies with
their plush green lawns, which do not have to comply with water
restrictions, have been urged to stop watering in sympathy with the rest
of the city.
GREEN LAWNS FROWNED UPON
Across the country, authorities want to cut water consumption by between
20 and 35 percent by 2030 compared to 2001 levels, and the public
appears to be supportive.
A report commissioned by the national government in late 2006 found
household consumption was down by more than 13 percent across all major
cities in the four years since 2001.
The change in water use reflects what appears to be a permanent shift in
behavior, and one Prime Minister John Howard hopes will never revert to
the carefree days before the drought.
"We've all been guilty in the past of hosing the car down in the
backyard," Howard told the National Press Club last month. "I think
there's been a permanent wake up call given to current Australian
generations about that.
"I don't want us to go back to the wasteful years of the past and I do
hope that we all, as individuals, have learned about it. I hope that the
growing interest of people in getting water tanks and making their own
personal contribution continues."
From her home at Bateau Bay, north of Sydney, Glenda Way believes
Australians have permanently changed their water habits, adding that
community pressure now makes a green lawn something to be ashamed of.
"There is no way I would go outside and use any water, because you'd be
very unpopular with the neighbors," she said.
"I think we'll always be very conscious of the water we use from now on.
I don't think we'll ever go back to use water like we used to."