Glorious rain
Submitted: Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 09:47
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D-Jack
Gday all.
Well this isn't the usual post that you get from outback Oz where they've had drought for years, but for the first time in my life (34 yrs) with the threat of level 5 water restrictions in
Adelaide, I've experienced and appreciated the true relief that rain can bring, albeit on a smaller scale than those in certain areas, especially farmers. It's been raining here in Morphettville (Near the CBD) for at least the last 24 hrs, and this morning we got some really heavy downpours. I've never really appreciated it like this before. I've been making a big fuss over it with my 2.5 year old daughter, hoping she'll not take the rain for granted as I did all these years.
I remember when I was a youngster seeing my Grandad put about 300mls into his hand basin, and Grandma and Grandad would both wash their hands in it. He was also a bit of a hoarder,but that came from not wanting to waste anything. I always thought (especially the water thing) that it was over the top, there was absolutely no threat to our
water supply in
Adelaide. Little did I know the wisdom in what he was doing. And now we find ourselves faced with similar necessities. Had we all been more conservative and wise with water in the past, as my Grandad was, I'm sure we'd be in a better position we're in today.
I now find myself wetting in the shower, turning it off, lathering up, and turning it back on to rinse only. I also leave the plug in the bath to see how little water I end up using. I don't flush number 1s unless it is really stinky, and even then I have learnt how to not do a full flush, but only allow 500lm or so to dilute it - just by a bit of finger/button control. Not only does it save water, it costs less. And it's hard to believe that we used to leave the tap running while brushing our teeth when we were youngsters, or having occasional 30 minute showers only a few years ago, or squirting down the driveway with water, or the walls, or washing the car without a nozzle and leaving the water running while not using it....
I wish all those in drought stricken areas the rain that we've had lately. And those that seem to have plenty at the moment, don't take it for granted, as there may not be much for any of us one day.
Hope you all get soaked!
D-Jack.
Reply By: Max - Sydney - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 10:43
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 10:43
D-Jack
My wife & I both grew up in
Adelaide in the days before the big pipe from the Murray was built. We were in such dire straits for water that when the pipe came through it went to
Birdsville and tipped into the Torrens there and ran down to Milbrook Reservoir till they built the rest.
Scout Camp that year at
Gumeracha was on the banks of a fast flowing river!
People were very water conscious then - we were not even deterred from using the rainwater tank for cuppas even when Dad hauled the dead cat out of the tank.
When we moved to
Sydney, there were water restrictions too, because they had built this you beaut
Warragamba dam but had forgotten to put in a pipeline to bring the water to
Sydney!
But over the years, we all forgot that and washed the paths, the house and the car with ever flowing hoses. And now we are on level 4 restrictions and watching the water all the time - its time to get back to basics! And for new solutions too I think.
Funny thing is bro-in-law from
Adelaide is staying with us at the moment and cannot get over how green it is here - we have had near normal rains this year, but not over the catchment area for the now old-beaut
Warragamba Dam so are in pretty dire straits still. Hope the rain you are getting in
Adelaide now greens things up a bit.
And we do hope the bush gets heaps of rain - even in the travelling season!
Max
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Follow Up By: Max - Sydney - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 16:01
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 16:01
Red face - you can tell which town I have been to more often in recent years! Birdswood is where the Murray water first went into the
Adelaide system - about 1951 I reckon.
LOL
Max
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Reply By: Gerhardp1 - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 10:53
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 10:53
Hear hear.
However, our biggest problem isn't the amount of water individuals use in the cities.
At the risk of offending our country bretheren, the problem is in the amount of water used in primary production. In their defence, it's partly demand from the
population (city folk) that drives what they have had to do.
Rice and Cotton and the dairy industries are the worst offenders. We don't need rice and cotton farms in Aust - the water they use is mind-blowing. We do need dairy production (who would be brave enough to take the milk out of our babies' bottles ! :)) even though it takes a mind boggling amount of water to produce a litre of milk.
I know that there is no single answer to the problem of an extended drought, but I don't believe all the hogwash about global warming being the cause. After all, no-one can dispute that the earth is warmer than it was during the last ice age, so global warming is not a new evil - it's been with the earth for a long time.
This is a never ending discussion topic, but it looks like Little Johnny will be visiting
Adelaide soon taking credit for the rain......:-))
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Follow Up By: porl - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 11:26
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 11:26
ahem, the best milk for babies don't come from cows ...
well not to be called so at the risk of a frypan to the back of the head.
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Follow Up By: Gerhardp1 - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 11:29
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 11:29
Too troooo,
mine were both fed with natures own, but these days the fems get cut open for birth and too bad if the kid wants boob - mostly not on offer any more.
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Reply By: Willem - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 11:15
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 11:15
I measured 21mm this morning and we have had some showers since then. Place is pretty soaked up. Rainfall to date here in the Far Mid North SA is 168mm for the year which is better than average.
I grew up in a very low rainfall area in Africa but most of my years were spent in the tropics where water was not a problem, ever!
I too have taken on trying to use water sparingly after using 250,000 litres in the last 6 months. Most of our water usage is on our garden and I was astounded to see just how much water we use. We now have a strict watering regime in place even though we have only drippers and mist sprayers. We dug the lawn up 5 years ago and replaced it with gravel, riverstones and pavers. All laundry water is collected and used on the garden and shower water runs out in to the garden. Was thinking of buying a self composting
toilet but it costs $2200 which is a tad steep for the moment.
Every time it rains I think that we should have bought another tank. We have 5000lts storage capacity at present and all tanks are overflowing. But tanks cost $800 plus and the government rebate scheme is flawed.
Ahh...another sun shower pouring down!!!!
Cheers
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Reply By: Gossy - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 15:23
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 15:23
get rid of cotton and rice farmers! These crops do not belong in Australia!!
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Reply By: Member - John and Val W (ACT) - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 15:43
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 15:43
Congratulations D-Jack. You have thought about the water situation and are taking sensible measures to do your bit to use water wisely. If there is any silver lining to this drought it might be that it gets the message about the need to use water wisely into the cities. That is where 85% of the
population lives so that is where the message needs to be understood. Next time you have food to throw out, think about how much water it took to produce it. It is
too easy to blame the farmers for producing food and fibre using irrigation - the consumers have to accept a bit of responsibility too.
We are still waiting for something from above here near
Canberra.
Val.
| J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
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Reply By: Dave198 - Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 19:43
Friday, Apr 27, 2007 at 19:43
There is one good thing about the drought, and it is that it has affected almost everybody in Australia at about the same time.
So, that means that everybody understands what the effect of a drought is.
It is quite normal to have some sort of drought in some part of Australia, but for most of us, we either didn't know about it or didn't understand what a drought meant because we were not affected, and we could not see it.
Now, at least, we can all see the effect, and feel the effect, so it is up to us to keep in place most, if not all of the lessons we have learnt during these very hard times.
I, like Willem, have no more thirsty lawn. I know that will not suit everybody's situation or lifestyle, but I have a lot more native plants that can go without water for quite long periods. That means no more buying lots of fertiliser trying to grow something that is not native in our area. No more mowing lawns. More birds around the native plants. More time for exploring Oz. More money to spend, ( no more high water bills with the lawn).
So, it's up to us to keep living as frugally as possible with the water, then we might eventually see some water in the Darling and many other rivers around Oz.
Then it will be a pleasure to go travelling around and not get depressed when we see the dry river beds and storage systems.
Dave
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