Water restriction delays
Published 1 year, 8 months ago in Local services.With the current lack of rain and the ever-present discussion about how little water we have in the Melbourne reservoirs, why are we delaying the move to Level 4 restrictions?
We are at level 3 now. We are only about 4% off moving to level 4. Why now move now, save a lot more water, and think long term?
Perhaps if the Victorian state government had the guts to act a couple of years ago and do the right thing then, we’d be in a better situation now.
Too often it seems to me that the politicians are delaying doing anything that might hurt them regardless of what is actually best for Victoria (or Australia) long term.
I’m also interested to note an article today about the Queensland state government looking into taking control of all of the state water. Sounds very similar to the recent strategy espoused by the Federal government. At least one state government has some sense (certainly not Victoria).
Since I’m on this subject, has anyone come across any discussion by an official or water company to get business to replace the flushing mechanism in the men’s toilets in all of the office buildings? so many of them are on a cyclic flush every 5 minutes. What a waste of water, when it could be saved, or at the very least, put on our gardens.
8 Responses to “Water restriction delays”
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Mr Bracks take note…
FIX THIS WATER ISSUE, build dams, fix the sprinklers that are on at night near Capt Cooks Cottage and around the GP track !!!, make decisions and stop faffing about as you always do…
In my opinion, every other state that is in crisis is doing something, why not us ???, care to comment Mr Bracks ????
COCO!
why dont they move to stage 4 now ?
because a lotof australians are selfish , and will complain about their dying gardens.
Stage 4 restrictions are inevitable and they will make many feel better about themselves in a holier-than-thou kind of way - especially those of us who already wear our filthy cars and dead lawns as a badge of honour. But the declaration of stage 4 restrictions will achieve little unless industry is forced to cut its water use by a lot more than the 1 per cent target set by the State Government. That is unlikely.
It is also unlikely that all the bans outlined under stage four will be enforced – exemptions will be given to car was businesses to continue washing cars, exemptions will be given to some sports grounds, lawn bowls pitches and tennis courts. Before we cry foul it must be understood that to enforce restrictions on car washing will cost hundreds of jobs and force businesses to the wall. Grass roots sport will collapse along with the employment and, more importantly, the community that is built around it. The cost of water is what riles me. I’ve just now posted on the subject.
Good poiint about the loos.
all of the different stages of water restrictions have come to late. We should have been doing something years ago.
I agree with the comments about the loss of jobs and the affects on sport and other occupations that rely on water in one way or another. However it seems to me that if the government had the courage to act as if was serious about our long term future, we would have had level 3 or 4 restrictions applied over a year ago.
Such restrictions, as many are discovering, don’t necessitate the death of their gardens. There is a great deal of water available for that purpose going down the drain every time we turn a washing machine on. Bunnings and others are being run off their feet trying to meet the demand for tanks, diversion hoses, gutter diverters, etc.
Nylex are reaping the benefits of an increased demand for tanks.
If the population is now able to embrace the need to save water, then I’m sure it was able to do so several years ago.
If that had happened, then there would probably be enough water now to allow the preservation of playing fields, etc without the same risk to our longevity.
As I mentioned before there are ways for the government and business to act now. Yes it will cost in the short term, but you can’t keep protecting business and jobs in the short term and stick your head in the sand thinking that “she’ll be right mate”!
I read another article the other day about the QLD government deciding to subsidise the price of water over the next few years by giving a share of it’s return from a project back to the people. This sounds nice and helpful, and it will be; in the short term. What happens in a few years when the water continues to go up in price, and the government realises it hasn’t any spare cash left. All they’re doing is putting off the inevitable. People need to get used to what is happening and start living with it now.
Whilst I whole heartedly agree with all the comments above, one must surely ask what happens after stage 4?
Taking a worst case scenario, we are forced onto stage 5, how then do we live ?
Why isn’t the state government doing something to ease this situation?. We need action, already Victorians are not washing cars, taking shorter showers, not wasting water on useless grass, conforming to water restriction guidelines, so we as the general population are doing “our” bit, industry on the other hand, from what I am reading is not doing to much and should be forced to do more. Lets face it, if we dont have water to drink then they certainly do not have water to waste, so there industries could potentially come to a standstill.
We need desalination, recycling waste water ANYTHING that puts water back into the “system”, I think the general view of Mr Bracks and Co is that we can do a magic rain dance soon, look like heroes and we have an abundance of water!, well sorry to burst this bubble, I don’t think there is *that* much rain coming…
So what are we going to do about this ??
COCO!
ps Hmm had a thought, why don’t we organise “critical mass” to do something GOOD for a change instead of stuffing our streets up, maybe they can stuff up the steps of parliament and protest about the water issue…
You know I’m not sure what can be done about the water issue, maybe nothing. What I crave is some plain, factual outline of where our water is used and why. Where savings can be made and how. Who will be allowed to continue using water, who won’t be allowed and why. We all hear that “industry and agriculture'’ waste/ use more than their fair share of water, but I have a feeling that if “industry and agriculture'’ were forced to make massive water savings in a hurry, the “rest'’ of us may suddenly find ourselves with fewer jobs, less money, higher prices and less choice.
It is not a simple issue. There is no simple fix. But there are facts, forecasts, analyses and options. Lets hear them.
In the words of the good dead Beatle, just give me some truth.
Why doesn’t Bracks follow the lead of Queensland and NSW and re-commence cloud seeding? It works over in Tassie, and has been shown to work in the Snowy Mountains. The increased rain yield is from 5% to 80% depending on the clouds. Any extra rainfall over the catchments will help keep them wet to allow better run off. All the light rain we have had over the past couple of weeks could have been increased with seeding. Considering the amount of money Bracks is wasting on things like unecessary new trade centres and sporting stadiums, the cost of cloud seeding is minute!