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Water is our lifeblood. Why are we so intent on destroying ourselves? I have lived in country towns most of my life, and now live in what is purported to be the driest state of Australia, and can see the futility of arguments between the governments and the so called water experts, as they can never agree on a solution to the problem of our water shortage.

When I was a child we were well aware of the value of water, having only one tank to give us water for drinking, cooking and bathing. When we had a bath it was on a share basis. There were five of us and my sisters went first, then myself, Mum and Dad last. The water was heated up on a wood stove, and there was approximately six inches in the bottom of an old fashioned bathtub, usually cold or at best lukewarm, by the time we were half way through. I believe these bureaucrats need to live out in the country for a while and find out the true meaning of a water shortage. They live in their inner city apartments or big suburban homes which are connected to mains water and as long as there is liquid emitting from their taps, they think they can procrastinate until the next shower. Then when it rains it is all right to put the concerns in the too hard basket until everything dries up again and the rivers are at the point of no return.

We are given rules and regulations to abide by in conserving our water supply, only allowing us to water the gardens twice a week at certain times of the day, and definitely no sprinklers. This is fair enough, but as with all rules there is always someone who will break them. How can we conserve water if not everyone obeys the rules, and those making the regulations do not police them. Our farmers have to depend on the rain and when there is no rain we have a shortage of produce, therefore we suffer with high prices, having to import goods which otherwise would be available from our own backyard.

The shortage of water and restrictions affects the local farms who depend on the river for their supply. This should not be the case, but large companies who have the money to construct vast dams have harvested the water upstream, depleting the river flow and consequently creating a survival problem for the farmers downstream. The governments have not been able to agree on who should control the water, as the Murray River produces a large part of the water supply for South Australia, but also runs through New South Wales and Victoria. Most of the larger rivers in the eastern states flow into the Murray River, and those which supply water to the massive farms of rice and cotton in the north are being sucked dry, therefore have no excess to flow into the main artery.

I realize Australia is not the only country being affected, but I can only speak from my own experience. Unfortunately, we all have to depend on rain to solve this problem completely, but with climate change and all the environmental problems the world is having, we can not depend on Mother Nature to come to our rescue any time soon. Because we have to find our own solution we should all be working together not arguing amongst ourselves until it is too late to fix the problem. This is one time when everyone should be coming together and trying to find a solution.

Learn more about this author, Kay Lobegeiger.
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