by Marcelle Mccallum

Created on: September 07, 2008

Living in Australia means that I do not have the luxury of ignoring the worlds water crisis, For it is not a looming threat, the crisis is here already and we must begin to look for ways to address the crisis. Our developed nations cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand, as we have learnt here in Australia.

I am by no means suggesting that we are in any way suffering as severely yet, though I do believe the indicators are that we will if we do not act. We have so far been predominantly protected by the rising cost of food internationally as we are a primary producer ourselves, yet all is not well in our farming communities. Farmers are leaving the land in droves and not being replaced (approx. 5000 between 05-06 and 07-08*; rural suicide rates are double that of the national average, according to the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention.*.

Although we are in no way suffering the same plight as those in east africa, the vision that we see of desparation, disease, starvation and conflict in areas affected should serve as an all too horrifying indicator of where we in Australia may find ourselves if we do not attempt to address our own national water shortage in a meaningful way. The hope would be that any advances we gain would be shared with or provided to less fortunate countries to assist in their drought strategies andalleviate the crisis.

For too long now the western world has treated water as an unlimited resource, it is turning out that the reality is starkly different and we are being slow to heed the signs. The scenarios we see in africa at the moment could easily be mirrored in central and northen australia, especially if the scant resources that remain are allocated to unsustainable monocultural farming of produce which is unsuited to the climate.

Sadly, I cannot believe that our first world status is going to afford Australia any protection from the societal ills which are beginning to abound around the water crisis. We are already experiencing water theft, and not only in rural areas. Sydney has had as little as twenty per cent in it's dams, as has Brisbane. Water theft has been experienced in major city centres as well as in rural areas.

With our farmers unable to tend the land due to decades of irresponsible irrigation and monoculture farming international food prices will begin to affect us unless swift action is taken. Australia is unfortunately excellently placed to help lead the world to new ways of using and conserving water. If we do nothing, we will be facing the same plight as our neighbours in Africa. We cannot afford to ignore the current crisis affecting East Africa and should be aiming to provide long-term solutions with an eye to preventing similar crises in our own lands.

The world water crisis has affected my behaviour and attitude towards water, it has changed the way I shop, cook, garden, parent and clean. I have become a water miser, wincing at every drop I see wasted and railing at the systems which allow industry and agriculture to squander potable water where it is not necessary. With any luck, it will have the same affect on many in the west and we will begin to properly reign in our water wasting ways, if not, the future of not only the drier continents such as Africa and my own Australia, but the rest of the world looks very dry indeed. Perhaps the scenario presented in Tank Girl was not so far off after all.

* 7106.0 - Australian Farming in Brief
*http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/australian-i nstitute-suicide-research-prevention

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