Thread: SO WE ARE IN A DROUGHT...YOU AINT SEEN NOTHIN' YET.....

Here in the NW corner of Vic we have had 55.4mm so far this year, according to Elders Weather, and 45.8 of that has fallen this month (May).
Our own figure for the year is less, at only 43mm.
There is no doubt about it, we are in dry times here.


Cheers, Mick.

Weather News - Sydney water restrictions in effect from Saturday

So has Dubbo - many have asked "why did it take this long?", but Dubbo has secure 'drought proof' water supplies from both the Macquarie River and from bore fields, and the river allocations have still not been restricted by Water NSW.

We are on a property in the Haweksbury valley north west of sydney and our eastern boundary runs along Howes Creek. This has not flowed in more than 2 years. It had some largish pools for a while but nothing now, completely dry. Our dam is dry but our tanks are almost full. 2 and half years ago the creek was two feet over the road and roaring down to the Haweksbury River. And since that time I don’t recall any good soaking rain, the odd heavy downpour but nothing very useful for the country. We have lost many immature trees and shrubs and even the 100 plus year old eucalypts are not looking very health with a lot more than usual limbs dropping. The understory plants just don’t seem to be as abundant or healthy either.

The bird life has reduced significantly. Particularly nightjars which used to be everywhere, but we are seeing some bird species that we have not seen here before. Not sure the significance of this..

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

Weather News - Sydney water restrictions in effect from Saturday

We have summer water restrictions EVERY year in WA, This includes regional areas as well as Perth.
Why this hasn't been done Australia wide in Summer beggers belief, Especially in NSW.

Sydney in particular, has to have very large water storage compared to usage, simply because the rainfall on the catchments is so irregular, with multiyear droughts interspersed with periods of above normal rain. (When I was at Uni we were told that they aimed to maintain a reserve of ten years normal consumption - with population growth in the last sixty years, I doubt this has been possible, although I believe the level of Warragamba is being raised, which represents a very big increase in volume.) Because of this, there seems little point in restricting water use most of the time. Sydney Water introduces restrictions when dam levels drop to 50%. which they are about to, and toughen them at 40%.

Some other towns are in similar positions, especially those on rivers that are major suppliers of irrigation water, and the town use is so small compared to irrigation offtake that restricting it seems a bit silly until the irrigation offtake is restricted (as at present for most rivers in NSW).

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

Weather News - Sydney water restrictions in effect from Saturday

They said on the morning radio today, that the inflow to the catchment up to now is the lowest it has been for forty years.
Don.

As I sit here listening to the rain **** down on the roof I'm reading an article on Walgett.
Fish flow release brings heart to communities along the Barwon | The Land

It is late. I m tired. Please can someone say I am reading this right. The Barwon river is now flowing through Walgett. This was because someone let some water out of the Copeton Dam. So, the water crisis in Walgett was man made.