It’s raining.
This might not sound like a big deal, but Brisbane and a lot of South East Queensland is currently dry as a bone. Actually, we are really quite screwed.
Everyone has been watching every drop that goes down the drain. We have buckets in the shower so that we can still water our herbs and chilli plants. The car has gone unwashed for months and months. We are trying to run the dishwasher only once a week. We have been encouraged to keep our water consumption down to 140L / day, sounds like a lot, but go a minute or two over the allocated 3 in the shower and it starts to become rather difficult.
So, water was a major election issue for Premier Beattie and it will be for the Federal government when it comes time for little Johnny to defend his position. The Federal government has already stepped in, trying to get the Northern NSW government to setup pipes to take water from some of the better off areas to help support Brisbane. There is also a national water grid going in that will take water from some of the other dams in the surrounding regions for Brisbane, and some desalination plants going up.
All sounds good eh? Well, not really, I’m not overly convinced that it will be in here enough. We only have about 15 months left of water if we keep going at the current rate. Our population is also increasing at about 1700 people a month, which will put further strain on our resources.
The rain is just divine, nothing nicer than listening to it while going to sleep and I just love it when it is cold (not really cold, Brisbane cold). Unfortunately this particular fall is only enough to extend the 15 month deadline by 2 days.
Some more links about the situation:
- SEQ Brisbane Dam Levels
- Brisbane City Council drought information
- Details on Level 5 restrictions, Level 6 kick in as we approach September.