Since the 2001-02 financial year, the South Australian government has ripped $1.06 billion dollars out of SA Water and put it into general revenue instead of infrastructure which could have protected the state from drought when there was ample rain and good flows in the Murray. The Minister “responsible” for water has described desalination and other measures suggested by experts as “silly”, and has recently toughened up water restrictions in Adelaide, while still allowing unsustainable vineyards to be watered with overhead sprinklers. The drone is also sure that the population of SA can be increased by half a million people. Consumers, as usual, pay for the incompetence and laziness of politicians.

It is probable that all other states have done the same thing as SA.

Forget the fanciful ideas about climate change. The current drought is described as the “worst in a hundred years”. Of course it is. It’s part of the 100-year cycle, and there is no excuse for politicians not seeing that we had a guaranteed water supply many years ago. They have been too stupid to accept the Australian climate for what it is, and too greedy to curtail totally unsustainable farming practices.

The supporters of the climate change theory have given the bludging politicians an excuse to continue bludging and spending money on things not wanted by the majority instead of on the essentials of life.

Let’s hope there is enough water left to drown them in when the populace finally loses patience.

(sorry for any spelling errors)
i agree, i'm totally sick of the pollies and the planet raping(sp?) greed mongers dodging the bullets of reponsability.

btw also check out "Time for the cities to stop bailing out farmers"

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=528

everyone intellegent seems to know what is happening and what would happen even 30 and 40 years ago.

it is the people who are concerned with themselves at the moment that move this world, not the thinkers and carers.

i think we need to blame the whole system that puts money before the planet (hello!, no planet=no life) we all need to take some blame as users and consumers, others as capitalists for commercialising food production and poluting in the name of profits, economists (and other idiots) for overpopulation (in the name of profits). farmers for using non-sustainable methods (again, to save money (in the name of profits) and everyone else that lets it all happen.

the really sad thing i find is this, we will not change our ways to do what is right because our ways are obviously wrong, but that we WILL change our ways so that we can continue with the biggest wrong of all. ripping each other off because of greed.

i don't necercerily believe in God (seems like he's abandoned us, and who'd blame him, or maybe he no longer believes in us) but if there is a God i know he'd be shaking his head watching us destroying the greatest gift ever given to anything and destroying own intellegence and humanity in the process.

Leigh,

I understand your sentiments, but I question whether you have correctly identified your targets. I don't live in SA so I must ask some basic questions. What is the source of the water used in the vineyard sprinklers? Unless these are vineyards owned and run by the water authority itself (which I expect would ultimately mean the State government) there presumably must exist some legally recognised rights belonging to the vignerons that entitle them to the use of this water. You tell me the vineyards are not viable, but it seems the vignerons consider it worthwhile to pump the water. You tell me the water is there to sprinkle, but is it for sale? I get the impression the water is not necessarily for sale, and/or there exists no mechanism for the obtaining of an equitable price for it by the owners of the rights. It looks like the vignerons have at least temporary security of supply, but that those whom you have entrusted to assure your supplies have let you down. Badly.

It also looks like you propose that presently available water should be taken from the vignerons and be made available to the Adelaide city reticulation network. Not for any personal gain of course, but just so people will not have to endure the inconvenience of water restrictions in an urban setting. (It doesn't get to be hardship until water only flows in the pipes for 2 hours in 24.) Believe me, the crop of politicians who have let you down so badly will be only too happy to steal this water from those who have the right to it on your behalf, and will excuse their guilt by claiming they were not doing it for any personal gain. You run the risk of encouraging a disastrous expropriation of those who have so far survived through having practised what you show great promise of preaching.

Hark! The rumble of cartwheels! Madame la Guillotine calls. Where's my knitting? I'll be back! Allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arrive....

Yes Leigh, the pollies are to blame, but not for doing nothing about water, but for not having the guts to tell it like it is.
They know if they say we are running out of water and that we may have to move we will blame them and not ourselves for not accepting the truth.

Recycling is only a solution if you have the water to recycle.
Desalination is the only guarenteed solution. The greenies will all jump up and down about the electricity involved but that is because they have too narrow a view.
The way you do it is have enough wind farm capacity to drive the desal plant. The plant needs to be designed to close down and start up at short notice or alternativly the wind farm sells electricity to the grid and the desal plant works while ever the windfarm is in credit.
The harder the wind blows the longer the desal plant runs;
Simple isn't it ! But do you think the pollies and greenies can understand that ? No way !

FG,

The grape growers’ water comes from the same place my water does: the Murray River. And of course they have legal rights to it.

And of course the growers feel that it their operations are viable. They are making money from it; but they don’t care about water for basic, human needs in the sense that they are there to make money. But in the driest state, and in the present drought, spraying water up in the air to evaporate before it hits the ground is not viable.

It takes 360 litres of water to produce a bottle of wine! And wine is hardly a necessity of life. I don’t think that makes a lot of sense, just to produce sore heads and a myriad of health problems for boozers. And, with globalisation, there are other places in the world where water hungry crops, including rice and cotton (which we don’t have in SA – even the idiots here know that’s a no brainer) are better located.

But, the duds in Canberra cannot adapt to change. Remember Barry Jones’s “clever country”? Many of the wackos still in Canberra were among those who sneered at the only politician in my six plus decades with a good brain.

Having said that, I have no gripe with commercial water users who have been actively encouraged to use water as if there is no tomorrow. My gripe, as I thought I had made clear, is with politicians who do nothing but still talk about growth, growth, and growth.

SA, and Australia in general, does not have a water problem; the problem is a people problem – too many of the buggers i.e. immigrants and greedy businesses who think that growth and ever increasing amounts of money in their pockets can go on forever. Plus the politicians.

The ultimate population for Australia is around 13 million souls. Unfortunately, both major political parties are high immigrationists, and there is no point in them trying to fool us into thinking that they are serious about water or any other environmental concerns while they remain so

Leigh,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. The damn Guillotine jammed, and it seems they have to get new runners for it, and they tried to get some in from France but the manufacture has been outsourced to L'Indie..... You know how it goes. Anyhow, it turns out it wasn't a bludging politician that was going to get his just desserts, just some harmless 7th generation 17 year old Aussie kid who'd been caught bulldozing out lantana on his Gran's farm without having got a permit under the Native Vegetation Act! Sentence was commuted on the spot to one of 1,000,000 handwritten lines to be handed in before the next election:
Malcolm Turnbull has turned over a new leaf
Malcolm Turnbull has turned over a new leaf
Malcolm Turnbull ..........................
I'm one who's all for truth in sentencing, and I felt this was a bit of a let-down, no matter how many times the little eco-vandal has to say it. Lost my knitting as well. But at least I got to catch up with the Desfarges.

Now where were we? Ah yes, the water shortage and the people glut. Right on, Leigh! I take your point about the evaporation losses from overhead sprays. Unfortunately, such systems would seem to have been fairly large long term investments which the vignerons cannot reasonably be expected to just abandon without an alternative (which would also have to be paid for) being already in place. Perhaps some of that $1.06 billion should immediately be turned over to them with an eye to enabling them to use their water allocations more efficiently, if the actual alternative method of application is consistent with good viticultural practice in all other respects.

Leaving aside its first sentence, your last paragraph really nails it. I would like to suggest a reason for both this bi-partisan policy and the perceived sustained poor performance of the bulk of politicians, but to do that I will have to start another thread. I'll think on it.