Water Rustlers Swoop as Parched Australian Cities Step Up Curbs
By Madelene Pearson
May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Neil Clarke says he was dumbfounded when thieves made off with thousands of liters of rainwater stored at an athletic field in Brisbane, Australia, last month.
The theft, from a tank at Fortitude Valley Junior Rugby League Club, came as the city tightened water-use curbs in force since 2005. Australia's longest dry spell on record has left only those in the tropical north free to turn on taps to sprinkle gardens, wash cars and hose down the children.
``It was just an easy target,'' said Clarke, 53, the club treasurer.
Dead trees and dry fountains are becoming features of Australia's urban landscape as restrictions limit the use of city water outdoors. Reservoir levels have ebbed to as little as a fifth of capacity in six of the country's eight regional capitals amid a drought that has lasted a decade in some areas.
Householders in the world's driest inhabited continent may have to get used to it. Such droughts are symptoms of climate changes affecting a number of countries, some scientists say.
``Australia, South Africa, California, the Middle East and to a degree China -- we're all in the same boat,'' said John Langford, director of Uniwater, a research project started by two Melbourne universities in March. ``The changes we now have to make are so much greater than anything we've faced before, and they are permanent.''
Australia's government has warned that food prices may rise as it considers irrigation bans in a water basin that supports half the country's crops. Physiotherapists report an increase in ``bucket back'' as people hurt themselves carting water recycled from showers to gardens.
`Valuable, Critical'
``This rapid climate shift has just caught everyone on the wrong foot,'' said Peter Cullen, a founder of the Wentworth Group of scientists in Sydney, which has devised a five-point plan for water management. ``People have now realized that water is a scarce and valuable and critical resource.''
Relief may take at least five years, said David Jones, head of climate analysis at the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre in Melbourne.
Reservoir levels in Melbourne have fallen to 30 percent of capacity, government figures show. They are at 19 percent in Brisbane, less than 23 percent in Perth and 38 percent in Sydney.
``If you want to fill them up inside a couple of years, you need 1-in-50-years type of rain events,'' Jones said. ``The severity of this drought is unprecedented.''
In Melbourne, Sue Webster said she is teaching her two children that water-saving measures are here to stay.
Shower to Garden
Webster, 48, a writer, washes her dishes in a bowl so she can reuse the water on her garden. Water captured from the shower is used to wash clothes and then poured over plants.
The family of four has cut its daily water consumption to 244 liters (64 gallons) a day from 441 liters, she said. The Websters also installed tanks to catch 3,000 liters of rain.
``I remember saying to the kids at the time that this is the new way we are doing things because we are going to be running out of water,'' she said.
Some state governments are offering as much as A$1,000 ($830) a household to help buy rainwater tanks. Demand has more than doubled in the past 18 months, according the Green Plumbers Association, a Melbourne-based group that promotes environmental sustainability.
More draconian measures are being implemented. Queensland in January canceled a planned plebiscite on whether to pump recycled water for household use. Some residents will have to drink it by 2008, the government ruled.
Spot Fines
In Sydney, spot patrols now hand out fines of A$220 to households and A$550 to businesses that fail to observe the outdoor curbs.
Melbourne turned off its fountains and is watering only one in four sports venues. Brisbane banned the filling of children's swimming pools.
The cost of water -- equivalent to ``only two cappuccinos a week'' -- will double in 10 to 20 years, said Uniwater's Langford, who has studied the water industry for 40 years.
Even so, Australians may adapt to permanent climate changes better than other countries, he said.
``Australians recognize they live in a very dry continent and it's a land of droughts, fires and floods,'' Langford said. ``As a nation, we're very effective at dealing with them.''
Living with restrictions isn't so hard, said Cameron Bell, 40, who sells water pumps in Goulburn, southwest of Sydney.
Bell recycles bath and laundry water and flushes his toilet only when necessary, though his car needs a wash and the lawn is mostly dead, he said.
``You get a bit of a sore back lifting buckets all day,'' Bell said. ``But it's little things like that can save your consumption.''
In Fortitude Valley, Clarke is still seething over the stolen 12,000 liters. The rustlers jumped a fence, put a hose into the tank and siphoned the water into a truck. People are desperate, Clarke said.
``It wouldn't have happened at any other time.''
By Madelene Pearson
May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Neil Clarke says he was dumbfounded when thieves made off with thousands of liters of rainwater stored at an athletic field in Brisbane, Australia, last month.
The theft, from a tank at Fortitude Valley Junior Rugby League Club, came as the city tightened water-use curbs in force since 2005. Australia's longest dry spell on record has left only those in the tropical north free to turn on taps to sprinkle gardens, wash cars and hose down the children.
``It was just an easy target,'' said Clarke, 53, the club treasurer.
Dead trees and dry fountains are becoming features of Australia's urban landscape as restrictions limit the use of city water outdoors. Reservoir levels have ebbed to as little as a fifth of capacity in six of the country's eight regional capitals amid a drought that has lasted a decade in some areas.
Householders in the world's driest inhabited continent may have to get used to it. Such droughts are symptoms of climate changes affecting a number of countries, some scientists say.
``Australia, South Africa, California, the Middle East and to a degree China -- we're all in the same boat,'' said John Langford, director of Uniwater, a research project started by two Melbourne universities in March. ``The changes we now have to make are so much greater than anything we've faced before, and they are permanent.''
Australia's government has warned that food prices may rise as it considers irrigation bans in a water basin that supports half the country's crops. Physiotherapists report an increase in ``bucket back'' as people hurt themselves carting water recycled from showers to gardens.
`Valuable, Critical'
``This rapid climate shift has just caught everyone on the wrong foot,'' said Peter Cullen, a founder of the Wentworth Group of scientists in Sydney, which has devised a five-point plan for water management. ``People have now realized that water is a scarce and valuable and critical resource.''
Relief may take at least five years, said David Jones, head of climate analysis at the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre in Melbourne.
Reservoir levels in Melbourne have fallen to 30 percent of capacity, government figures show. They are at 19 percent in Brisbane, less than 23 percent in Perth and 38 percent in Sydney.
``If you want to fill them up inside a couple of years, you need 1-in-50-years type of rain events,'' Jones said. ``The severity of this drought is unprecedented.''
In Melbourne, Sue Webster said she is teaching her two children that water-saving measures are here to stay.
Shower to Garden
Webster, 48, a writer, washes her dishes in a bowl so she can reuse the water on her garden. Water captured from the shower is used to wash clothes and then poured over plants.
The family of four has cut its daily water consumption to 244 liters (64 gallons) a day from 441 liters, she said. The Websters also installed tanks to catch 3,000 liters of rain.
``I remember saying to the kids at the time that this is the new way we are doing things because we are going to be running out of water,'' she said.
Some state governments are offering as much as A$1,000 ($830) a household to help buy rainwater tanks. Demand has more than doubled in the past 18 months, according the Green Plumbers Association, a Melbourne-based group that promotes environmental sustainability.
More draconian measures are being implemented. Queensland in January canceled a planned plebiscite on whether to pump recycled water for household use. Some residents will have to drink it by 2008, the government ruled.
Spot Fines
In Sydney, spot patrols now hand out fines of A$220 to households and A$550 to businesses that fail to observe the outdoor curbs.
Melbourne turned off its fountains and is watering only one in four sports venues. Brisbane banned the filling of children's swimming pools.
The cost of water -- equivalent to ``only two cappuccinos a week'' -- will double in 10 to 20 years, said Uniwater's Langford, who has studied the water industry for 40 years.
Even so, Australians may adapt to permanent climate changes better than other countries, he said.
``Australians recognize they live in a very dry continent and it's a land of droughts, fires and floods,'' Langford said. ``As a nation, we're very effective at dealing with them.''
Living with restrictions isn't so hard, said Cameron Bell, 40, who sells water pumps in Goulburn, southwest of Sydney.
Bell recycles bath and laundry water and flushes his toilet only when necessary, though his car needs a wash and the lawn is mostly dead, he said.
``You get a bit of a sore back lifting buckets all day,'' Bell said. ``But it's little things like that can save your consumption.''
In Fortitude Valley, Clarke is still seething over the stolen 12,000 liters. The rustlers jumped a fence, put a hose into the tank and siphoned the water into a truck. People are desperate, Clarke said.
``It wouldn't have happened at any other time.''
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