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The Forum > General Discussion > This Drought What can we do

This Drought What can we do

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Belly,

You are on the right track.
Add solar to wind turbine power to lift water inland. Solar and wind energy is being used to lift water into mountains during the day and at night that water flows back down through turbines to generate electricity at night.

Innovation should be examined and proven achieveable or not.

Google; Australian Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper.
Click Supporting Information.
See Index: F. Fairfax J.C. That's JF Aus.

Trouble is that paper was an Abbott government initiative and along came Turnbull who is anti Abbott.

Electricity for inland pumping can also be produced by using sewage to grow algae to make biofuel.

This is not about sprinklers to wet the whole inland.
Drought proofing can be achieved by intensive (small area) hay making.
Shortage of feed is more the problem, not drinking water.
Posted by JF Aus, Wednesday, 1 August 2018 8:47:33 PM
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Sewage fed algae to produce biofuel to assist pumping nutrient rich effluent inland is not impossible.

http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/07/09/1534625/0/en/Global-Algae-Biofuel-Market-Will-Reach-USD-9-88-Billion-by-2024-Zion-Market-Research.html
Posted by JF Aus, Wednesday, 1 August 2018 9:02:56 PM
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In 1969 agricultural economist, Bruce Davidson, published 'Australia Wet or Dry? The physical and economic limits to the expansion of irrigation'. He analysed the economics of irrigation, asking whether we would have been better off without irrigation schemes; if the huge amount of money spent on them had instead been directed to improving dry-land farming. The idea of piping coastal water inland to grow fodder crops for stock in times of drought is 'irrigation'.

Fifty years later, it's still a fascinating read because, as he wrote, even then 'the belief in the need for irrigation (was) so deeply embedded in Australian thinking'. He concluded 'the present-day Australian is a poorer man than he would have been if the resources used in irrigation had been invested in dry land farming'. I'm not aware of any current continuation of Davidson's research, it's not my field. I came across the book accidently about 15 years ago; however I live in an irrigation area in WNSW so I know the issues well.

As noted earlier, the proposals discussed here have a long history: from the 1870s suggestion of a canal from Port Augusta to Lake Eyre, to the 1930s Bradfield scheme, which gets regularly revived. Leaving aside Davison's basic issue, it's been demonstrated repeatedly that these are economically and environmentally unviable.

So what should we do? Well, we could stop letting coastal cities expand forever over some of the best soils in the best well-watered areas, though it may be a bit late on that one. We could look at new versions of the Kidman 'chain of stations' approach, where stock were moved regionally from drought affected areas to better watered localities. This would be better for the soil; removing the stock while there's still some stubble, to minimise wind erosion - so that it never reaches the bare sand that we see on TV at the moment; expand the use of no-till cropping. In general, recognise that when droughts get really bad, it may make more sense just to move off the land affected entirely, until it rains and the country recovers
Posted by Cossomby, Wednesday, 1 August 2018 11:34:45 PM
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Times have changed.

There is now greater demand and need and better technology than ever before.

There is no pipe and no earth canal in the steel aqueduct water harvesting and transportation system I have suggested.

How about put forward some evidence of non-feasibility or non-viability in this present day and age?
Posted by JF Aus, Thursday, 2 August 2018 4:06:29 AM
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I see this as nation building and some thing that in the end will pay us back many times, tossing about the subject of inland pumping it struck me that part of my Sunday drive was alongside four huge water pipelines, taking water over a hundred kilometers to Newcastle, we do it, in reverse right now, even further Kalgoorlie gets its water from I think Perth, again if we start small but never stop we can create jobs and growth away from the coast and could be growing food for stock within a few years too some rivers run inland and are farmers water supplies now, Cubby station a controversial place, could receive water that would find its own way along the river other rivers too could do this if we pumped to them
Posted by Belly, Thursday, 2 August 2018 9:06:42 AM
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I have, without much luck, searched for the book about droughts I mentioned from the 1960,s that drought was very bad, and several books written at that time spoke of more on farm water storage and other things, we should re look at those too, water however can not always fill extra dams and in drought that something extra is needed I remain convinced others have good ideas to help this work, and just my septic recycling system maintaining a growth of trees and gardens that could not exist without it is a micro system that proves it can be done
Posted by Belly, Thursday, 2 August 2018 12:07:49 PM
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