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Snowy storages reach all-time November low
ABC (Australia)
As national leaders meet in Canberra today for urgent talks on the water crisis in the Murray Darling system, Snowy Hydro has revealed its storages are at their lowest November level on record.

Snowy Hydro's Paul Johnson says after the worst winter for snowfalls in more than 50 years, inflows from the snow melt are just 25 per cent of average.

"The Snowy Scheme water storages are currently at their lowest November level since the Snowy Scheme was completed in 1973," he said.

"In addition, water inflows from rain and snow melt have continued to be only around 25 per cent of long-term average, and in fact water inflows this year ... were only two thirds of that of the worst year recorded in the last 101 years."
(7 Nov 2006)
Contributor SP writes: The Snowy Hydro is a combined hydro-electric and irrigation scheme 'turning the rivers inland' to 'drought proof' Australia. If climate change sees less snow and rain in the Australian Alps the Snowy hydro-electric scheme cease to be a renewable resource (at least on the scale originally planned). The infrastructure we have now, some of which mitigates energy shortages or CO2 emissions, may be rendered redundant.

Drought to hit dinner table
Sydney Morning Herald/AAP (Australia)
New South Wales [Australia’s biggest state by population] residents are being warned to tighten their purse-strings and prepare for further food price hikes with almost the entire state now in the grip of drought.

New figures released today showed the long-running drought's hold on NSW was worsening, with 93.6 per cent of the state now drought declared compared to 89.3 per cent last month.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald labelled the latest figures disastrous, warning of steep increases in the cost of a range of foods including meat, vegetables, bread and milk. ..

Mr Macdonald said winter crop forecasts had been downgraded further and were expected to be 66 per cent less than in 2005. Meanwhile, dam capacity across the state stands about 26 per cent, compared to 54 per cent at the same time last year. ..
(12 Nov 2006)
Contributor Beacon Boy writes: This will put further pressure next year on interest rates, with interest rates already raised 25 basis points last week. Interesting times ahead.

Australia's drought could be worst in 1,000 years
Reuters/Alertnet
The drought gripping Australia could be the worst in 1,000 years, government officials said on Tuesday, as Australia started to draw up emergency plans to secure long-term water supplies to towns and cities.

Lack of winter rain has meant record-low inflows into the Murray-Darling river system, which drains an area the size of France and Spain combined and provides water to Australia's major agricultural areas.
The average inflow of water into the Murray River, which flows through three states, is 11,000 gigalitres a year. In the past five months it has received less than 600 gigalitres. ..

The Australian Democrats party criticised the summit, saying the meeting had ignored both the need to buy water back from farmers and irrigators, and the need to put a higher price on water use.
"Making water more expensive is not going to be popular, but it needs to be done," Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett told reporters. ..
(7 Nov 2006)
See also Howard backs draining wetlands and PM doubts officials claims.
Contributor SP also provides this Murray-Darling Basin Commission link detailing the huge portion of agricultural production that some years comes from the MBD.

Grain Drain Down Under
Helen Brown, ABC
Drought has again forced the government agriculture body ABARE to cut its production forecast. Output from Australia's key cropping industries is estimated at 13.6 million tons, down 63 per cent on last year. ..
(31 Oct 2006)
Contributor Rod Campbell-Ross writes:
The failure of the Australian grains crop further reduces the worlds food stock piles. The "drought" in Australia is a symptom of a major redistribution of rainfall within Australia. Rainfall has decreased in the South East in many areas by half, but has increased by the same amount in the Northwest over the last 50 years (Australian Bureau of Meteorology). PM John Howard defends his lack of action on Kyoto quoting cost, but refuses to acknowledge the rainfall redistribution or that it could be a result of climate change.