Governments urged to invest in roads, water, telecoms to protect against natural disasters

Infrastructure Australia has urged federal and state governments to invest billions of dollars shoring up the country's water supply, roads and telecommunications networks to protect them from national disasters and climate change.

Infrastructure Australia says the summer's fires and the drought have
 highlighted the need to build resilience into the nation's infrastructure.

Releasing its latest priority list, IA chief executive Romilly Madew said years of drought and the summer's bushfires had highlighted the need to ensure the nation's infrastructure was more resilient.

"Compounding issues of unprecedented infrastructure demand, severe drought and other environmental changes require a focus on our resilience strategies and a consensus on where to invest now for our nation's future prosperity," she said on Tuesday.

IA identifies the most pressing major infrastructure needs of the country each year and ranks them in terms of importance. Proposals from governments, councils, lobby groups and the private sector are vetted by the agency.

Read the story from The Age by Shane Wright - “Governments urged to invest in roads, water, telecoms to protect against natural disasters.”

Drought-stricken NSW farmers offered water from public pool as national talks begin in Canberra

In a town in New South Wales, the drought has become so desperate that farmers are turning to their new local swimming pool for water supply.

In a town in New South Wales, the drought has become 

 so desperate that farmers are turning to their new local

swimming pool for water supply.

The eight lane outdoor pool is still being built, and was filled with water last week while it was tested for leaks.

Gunnedah Mayor James Chaffey said he did not want that water to go to waste.

"There's more than two megalitres of water that is non-potable, water that is now becoming available," he said.

"We don't want to pump that down the drain.”

Today the council will offer the water — which is not for human consumption — free to anyone who needs it.

Read the story by Anna Henderson from ABC News - “Drought-stricken NSW farmers offered water from public pool as national talks begin in Canberra.”

Cape Town is almost out of water. Could Australian cities suffer the same fate?

The world is watching the unfolding Cape Town water crisis with horror. On “Day Zero”, now predicted to be just ten weeks away, engineers will turn off the water supply. The South African city’s four million residents will have to queue at one of 200 water collection points.

With water storages running low, residents of Cape
Town get drinking water in the early morning from a
mountain spring collection point.

Cape Town is the first major city to face such an extreme water crisis. There are so many unanswered questions. How will the sick or elderly people cope? How will people without a car collect their 25-litre daily ration? Pity those collecting water for a big family.

The crisis is caused by a combination of factors. First of all, Cape Town has a very dry climate with annual rainfall of 515mm. Since 2015, it has been in a drought estimated to be a one-in-300-year event.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University,  Ian Wright - “Cape Town is almost out of water. Could Australian cities suffer the same fate?”

In Cape Town, 'Day Zero' is coming very soon - the day the water runs out

Johannesburg: Cape Town, South Africa's second-largest city, is facing its worst drought in a century, with its water supply expected to run dry April 21.

Residents of Cape Town wait in line to collect drinking
water from a mountain spring collection point.

They're calling it "Day Zero." In this city of 4 million, people will have to line up in the streets at just 200 water stations. The police and army will enforce a limit of 25 litres per person and adopt measures to control crowds. Some experts believe evacuations will be necessary.

Read Robyn Dixon’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “In Cape Town, 'Day Zero' is coming very soon - the day the water runs out.”

Climate change warming world's lakes surprisingly fast

Lakes around the world are warming surprisingly quickly due to climate change, threatening the global water supply. And lakes in Canada are some of the fastest-warming in the world, a new study shows.

The warming waters can lead to problems like toxic algae blooms that make water undrinkable, declines in fish populations that people rely on for food and other serious problems, warns the international team of researchers that released the study this week.

"If air temperatures continue to increase and this influences water supply and water quality, that has a huge implication for humans as we need fresh water to survive," said Sapna Sharma, a researcher at Toronto's York University who was one of the lead authors of the report.

Read the CBC News story - “World's lakes are warming surprisingly quickly due to climate change.”