I hear that Australia has a permanent drought – how serious is it?

Periodic droughts are a way of life in Australia and a constant worry for farmers. In many rural areas, rivers are sucked almost dry by the demand for water for irrigation, causing many to slow to a trickle and the water to become polluted by toxic algae (rivers are also polluted by salt and some are dying). There are frequent (sometimes permanent) water restrictions in most regions of Australia, even in the major cities. The Australian weather is periodically affected by El Niño, an ocean warming phenomenon where prevailing cold water currents along the west coast of South America become warmer, thus upsetting weather patterns and leading to floods in North and South America and droughts in Australia.

   The drought situation is dire in some parts of Australia, including two-thirds of NSW, some of which have experienced a severe drought for over seven years – the worst in living memory. One of the consequences is that the countries major water reserve, the Darling-Murray basin river system – which provides three-quarters of the water consumed nationally – is running dry. Farmers have been devastated in many areas and been forced to slaughter their livestock because they cannot feed them and wildlife has also been decimated. Water management is one of the most serious problems facing Australia.

   Heavy rainfall during December 2009 associated with Tropical Cyclone Laurence, as well as other early wet-season activity, reduced the extent of rainfall deficiencies in tropical Australia. However, deficiencies on a 12-month timescale are largely unchanged in central Australia and along the southeast coast, with December rainfall generally average to below average in these regions.

For more information see Living and Working in Australia by David Hampshire