We can’t drought-proof Australia, and trying is a fool’s errand

There is a phrase in the novel East of Eden that springs to mind every time politicians speak of “drought-proofing” Australia:

The push to ‘drought-proof’ Australia is dangerous nonsense.

"And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way."

While author John Steinbeck was referring to California’s Salinas Valley, the phrase is particularly pertinent to Australia where the El Niño-Southern Oscillation exerts a profound influence. Water availability varies greatly across the country, both in space and time. El Niño conditions bring droughts and devastating bushfires, while La Niña is accompanied by violent rainfall, floods and cyclones. 

Read the story from The Conversation by PhD Candidate, Infrastructure Engineering, from the University of Melbourne, Emma Kathryn White - “We can’t drought-proof Australia, and trying is a fool’s errand.”