Armidale almost out of water

[bob10]

980 metres up the great divide, delving a bore is a problem.


'Plan C is a problem': a town without ground water nears day zero (https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/plan-c-is-a-problem-a-town-without-ground-water-nears-day-zero/ar-AAJarAS?ocid=spartandhp)

[V8Ian]

As long as there's enough for me to have a shower. As a special favour to the locals, I'll drink beer tonight. [biggrin]

[Hogarthde]

Whatcha doing down there Ian?
Recruiting league boys , or politicians or Tooheys new........?

Dave

[V8Ian]

Working. [bigsad] The curse of the drinking and non-drinking man.
Actually, I just realised, I'm not here, I'm there. Tamworth not Armadale. [bighmmm][bigwhistle]

[bob10]

The Darling river dry as truckies throat.


Thirst turns to anger as Australia's mighty river runs dry (https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/thirst-turns-to-anger-as-australias-mighty-river-runs-dry/ar-AAJglm1?ocid=spartandhp)

[trout1105]

The Malpas Dam was finished in 1968 and Armidales population was about half of what it is now.
Blaming a drought is BS, Blaming to lack of infrastructure and total lack of planning is spot on the money.
There MAY have been plenty of water storage back in the late 60's But Armidale and MOST other Australian towns and cities have pretty much doubled in size and yet there has been bugger all done about future proofing our water supplies to keep up with the growing demand.
Australia is a pretty dry continent and droughts are simply a way of life here and it is about time our governments national AND state spent some money on future/drought proofing our water supplies.

[Saitch]

As I posted elsewhere, I was in the Hunter Valley last week and the upstream Hunter River has been pumped down to a trickle and a few waterholes. The vines are certainly not large water consumers but they still require some.

[bob10]

Some good news for a change.


Bore water find brings 'palpable' relief for drought, fire-ravaged Tenterfield - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/drought-affected-town-tenterfield-finds-bore-water-just-in-time/11631042?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=%5bnews_sfmc_rural_df_!n1%5d%3a8940&user_id=c17365ab07572ed90614d245ada5ad675f6bc00189 fa766123c70d76d1d7cddf&WT.tsrc=email&WT.mc_id=Email%7c%5bnews_sfmc_rural_df_!n1%5d%7c89 40RuralMail_ArticleLink)

[AK83]

The Malpas Dam was finished in 1968 and Armidales population was about half of what it is now.
Blaming a drought is BS, Blaming to lack of infrastructure and total lack of planning is spot on the money.
.....

Don't forget to add the brilliant stroke of genius that introduced rice and cotton as an agri-business!
Yeah .. western NSW has plenty of water for those farming practises [bighmmm]

[trout1105]

Don't forget to add the brilliant stroke of genius that introduced rice and cotton as an agri-business!
Yeah .. western NSW has plenty of water for those farming practises [bighmmm]

Yes a Spectacular lack of thought went into those forms of agriculture[bigwhistle]
But hey, As long as certain pollies get their snout into the trough at Canberra who gives a rats arse about the health of our rivers[bigwhistle]

[4bee]

The government has set up a panel to evaluate water management and ordered its anti-trust watchdog to investigate trading in irrigation rights.


Bloody hell, not another one? They all seem to turn out bull**** & nothing improves.

They have caught the buggers red handed but still bugger all happens. I could mention Back Pockets but I won't.[bigsad]

[scarry]

Working. [bigsad]
Actually, I just realised, I'm not here, I'm there. Tamworth not Armadale. [bighmmm][bigwhistle]

So you dropped a load off in the wrong town?[biggrin][bighmmm]

[4bee]

That is wonderful providing it doesn't take it from someone else's water source & diminishes supply there.
Otherwise great news.

Our bore/Well water allegedly comes from PNG. So it is said???? Haven't seen any coconuts in it yet though.

[4bee]

So you dropped a load off in the wrong town?[biggrin][bighmmm]

Wherever it was Paul, they won't be in a hurry to tell him, if it was fresh water.[bigsad]

[bob10]

That is wonderful providing it doesn't take it from someone else's water source & diminishes supply there.
Otherwise great news.

Our bore/Well water allegedly comes from PNG. So it is said???? Haven't seen any coconuts in it yet though.


Whilst in the NT , back in the 80's, I tagged along on a fact finding trip , these trips are done frequently and consist of the military, Police, and a couple of boffins. At least this one did. A bit of a jolly, the NT is divided up into sections, and each section is travelled every couple of years. The whole idea is that all land owners are asked to fill in a paperwork which lists all water, stock, fuel , maintenance facilities etc. This is collated and sent to Canberra. The idea is that in a National emergency, eg War, troops can be sent along a route where they know there will be facilities to support them. On one occasion, the old cattle man , who was in bed with a broken back, [ breed em tough up there] told us of a spring that had never run dry in aboriginal memory. We found it, took water samples, and one of the boffins told us that that particular aquifer came under the Torres strait from New Guinea. Different aquifers at different depths collect their water from different areas, apparently. EDIT This wasn't a bore, it was a cave, underground, with the water source over in a corner. In times of major drought, the local Aboriginal tribes forgot their territorial differences, and camped peacefully around the water.

[4bee]

Thanks Bob, so there could be some truth in it after all?

This was told to us by a highly respected well drilling company who specialise in this work in the Adelaide Hills when we had two bores cleaned & rejuvenated about 34 years back. We did wonder at the veracity of this.

The estate agent was for wiping their hands of us being able to retrieve a usable bore as they claimed the casing was bent when the well was back filled after a length of casing was inserted into what had been a dug & timber lined well. (Info from previous owner.)
Water quality is excellent, a little iron, but that is a bi-product of Sandstone it seems.


Anyhow, this company was able to get an 8' Baler up & down in good time with no interference from the casing so all was good. Estate Agents generally talk out of their their arses without first checking facts even if it could mean losing a sale.

Odd how water behaves.
Behind us here is Mount Lofty one of the highest peaks in SA & certainly the Southern Adelaide Hills at 730m (2380') & at the top, in a private property, water freely flows out of a small tunnel dug into the hillside.

The mouth of the tunnel has been dammed 30% to allow water to build up.

Where does that come from one wonders? PNG? Who knows?

[Fourgearsticks]

told us of a spring that had never run dry in aboriginal memory. We found it, took water samples, and one of the boffins told us that that particular aquifer came under the Torres strait from New Guinea. Different aquifers at different depths collect their water from different areas, apparently. EDIT This wasn't a bore, it was a cave, underground, with the water source over in a corner. In times of major drought, the local Aboriginal tribes forgot their territorial differences, and camped peacefully around the water.
Few years ago I met a boffin type just south of Alice Springs, he'd been round the territory and south Australia testing water from bores, I asked him about the New Guinea water source story. He said not true, water didn't come from that far away, he did test the water somehow to see how long it had been out of the sun, he said some had been under ground for over 100 years.
Armidale has different stories on how long the water will last, I was told if they don't get rain in the next 12 months then they will only have enough water in Malpas for 12 months after that.

[trout1105]

Armidale has different stories on how long the water will last, I was told if they don't get rain in the next 12 months then they will only have enough water in Malpas for 12 months after that.

Strewth Mate, Don't let the truth bugger up a perfectly "Newsworthy" story.
Without some "creative" sensationalism nobody would bother to read a newspaper these days[bigwhistle]

[bob10]

Thanks Bob, so there could be some truth in it after all?

This was told to us by a highly respected well drilling company who specialise in this work in the Adelaide Hills when we had two bores cleaned & rejuvenated about 34 years back. We did wonder at the veracity of this.



I think it depends which boffin you talk to. But wherever that water came from, anecdotal evidence , passed mouth to mouth by the local indigenous people , was that that water had never dried up. So it's safe to say, it must have been recharged from somewhere. A bit out of my pay scale, and education, I'm afraid. Interesting story about Mt Lofty BTW.

[Fourgearsticks]

I think it depends which boffin you talk to. But wherever that water came from, anecdotal evidence , passed mouth to mouth by the local indigenous people , was that that water had never dried up. So it's safe to say, it must have been recharged from somewhere. A bit out of my pay scale, and education, I'm afraid. Interesting story about Mt Lofty BTW.
Interesting how water can get the pressure to come out the tops of high ground. I have seen water coming out the a seep on the side of a hill right at the top of the dividing range country east of Armidale, it was near the top of the range which goes up over 5000 feet in that area.
Also south of Halls Creek towards the edge of the desert country there are quite a few blocks of rising ground sticking out of the lower spinifex country. On one of those "Mesas" there was a source of water that came from the top flowing down the side out into the lower ground. As the little stream flowed down the lower side of the slopes there was a rocky gorge with rock paintings and carvings, also bones tucked up into the rocks. The local aboriginals knew nothing of it's history and was a no go area for them.

[4bee]

Well, (no pun intended btw)[smilebigeye] in my example I also wonder about water originating from the Snowies & the Eastern Ranges being Higher than Mt Lofty, so why not? You couldn't say it was a Siphoning action, or could you? ? ? But something must have started that cycle in the beginning if it were.

Ah, the mysteries of life.[bigsad]

[bob10]

Well, (no pun intended btw)[smilebigeye] in my example I also wonder about water originating from the Snowies & the Eastern Ranges being Higher than Mt Lofty, so why not? You couldn't say it was a Siphoning action, or could you? ? ? But something must have started that cycle in the beginning if it were.

Ah, the mysteries of life.[bigsad]


In this day and age I think understanding water and how it all flows is going to be vitally important. It's something most of us have taken for granted, especially those of us in the cities. For example, how on earth do we map an underground aquifer, where its water comes from, how much it holds, and how long it will last ? My brain hurts just thinking about it.

[AK83]

In this day and age I think understanding water and how it all flows is going to be vitally important. ....

I think its far more simple than we're being led to believe.

1. it's an essential service
2. it's not a commodity for private or public organisations to profit from.

we've been managing water for thousands of years without too many issues(very rare, if any major).

Add in corrupt individuals to the ecosystem, and it was always going to be inevitable that a disaster was there to be made.

If you haven't, I suggest folks watch the ENRON doco on SBS if they can.
So many similarities, just the products being different.

Didn't something 'similar' also happen to Tas with water a few years back?
Electricity/hyrdo company privatised, they then proceeded to drain what's essentially an undrainable system to make short term profits, and left the state in the lurch both in terms of power AND water supply!

If you misuse a resource for anything other than it's main purpose, bad things always happen downstream(pun intended).

[Fourgearsticks]

That's not the way free enterprise works Arthur, they gouge and charge as much as they can because they can. Water used to be what was considered "Utilities" along with power and gas, now with all those things privatised with the promise of cheaper everything because private enterprise can run so much cheaper than a government monolith. Funny how that never works out, nothing is EVER cheaper and when a foreign power or entity owns another countries resources we loose all control.
Take gas, Australians pay 60 times what is charged to overseas customers, why? Because they can.
Free enterprise is a licence to steal, we as consumers are forced to pay what they want to charge.

[4bee]

But but but 4gs, aren't we paying lots of people in Canberra to look after our interests? Duuuuhh. Silly me eh?[smilebigeye]

[trout1105]

But but but 4gs, aren't we paying lots of people in Canberra to look after our interests? Duuuuhh. Silly me eh?[smilebigeye]

I am pretty certain that we are paying lots of people in Canberra to look after their OWN interests[bigwhistle]

[AK83]

I am pretty certain that we are paying lots of people in Canberra to look after their OWN interests[bigwhistle]

Hey, that's a bit harsh!.
But what I think you may have meant was their own, as well as their ex colleagues and mates interests. <_<

Maybe this was what John Howard really meant when he was adamant that the word 'mateship' be entered into the constitution.

[4bee]

Ooooohhhhh you are a cynic, Arthur.[biggrin]

[V8Ian]

Ooooohhhhh you are a cynic, Arthur.[biggrin]
Is cynic another word for realist, Des? [bighmmm]
What'll happen when someone works out the way to harvest all the world's oxygen? :rolleyes:

[Saitch]

Is cynic another word for realist, Des? [bighmmm]
What'll happen when someone works out the way to harvest all the world's oxygen? :rolleyes:

That might slow down the peloton pretenders down a bit.

[4bee]

Is cynic another word for realist, Des? [bighmmm]
What'll happen when someone works out the way to harvest all the world's oxygen? :rolleyes:



Evening Ian, good point, but I thought BOC/ ex-CIG already had done that.[bigsad]


Another good point Saitch & that would get the silly buggers & Wannabees off Greenhill Road at "Tour Down Under" time.

Yeah, I'd like to see that.[biggrin]

[DiscoMick]

I think the source of the water might vary depending on how deep was the well. There are layers of water separated by layers of rock down there. The water from 150 metres down might have a different source from the water 1500 metres down.
The shallower water might have a local source while the deeper water might have a more distant source.
The whole continent is floating, you know.

Not sure about PNG, but when we were at Lawn Hill Gorge we were told the water there came from the north-west of the country. BTW the water level in the gorge is currently down almost 2 metres compared with the normal level, which is a lot.