Climate Change and Water Reform

17 October 2006

As a mother I think about how climate change is going to be experienced by my children in the future.  As every day passes and there is still no rain my suspicion that this unseasonably dry weather is due to global climate change increases.  Sure, there isn't a long history of weather records in Australia, and weather like this might have been experienced before just not recorded, but it does seem a bit of a coincidence that this dry is happening as the environmental scientists are warning us about the impact of climate change.

I like the Get Up website http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ClimateActionNow because currently it is addressing global warming and I feel like I can have my say in stressing the need for all politicians to commit to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in our country.  There certainly do seem to be some links to climate change and the drought that we're currently facing.

There's so much talk in the media at the moment about the drought.  Some are saying that farmers should pay more for the water they use as the farming of crops - especially cotton, grapes/wine and rice - take a large chunk of the water supply compared to domestic use.  If this happened I wonder what it would do to our economy, these farmers livelihoods, and the price of food?  It's a tricky situation. 

It certainly makes me think about the water that we, as a family consume.  I'm not as conscientious about water conservation as some of my friends but I do try and be careful about the water we use.  Recently I've begun to use water from our rain tank for our clothes washing and was amazed and horrified that it took about 8-9 buckets of water for just one half of a cycle!  Even though it seems the agricultural industry is consuming a heap more water compared to the suburbs; every little bit counts.  Speaking of which - why is it that I see some people still watering their lawns in the middle of a hot day?

All of this makes me wonder who should be taking the most responsibility for water reform in our country.  Should it be the farmers who should move to other states where water is more abundant and/or put up with higher water rates?  Should it be the politicians who put forth policy after policy to try and alleviate the strain and advocate for subsidized water conservation programmes?  Or, should it be your average household user footing the bill for more efficient ways to use water like installing rainwater tanks and using grey water for their gardens?

Certainly, in the short term at least, we will all have to get used to our gardens looking a little less greener than usual.

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