World is Green

Every day in the newspapers and TV shows you see the lamenting on water shortages. In a country of only 22 million people there is an increasing water shortage. How can this be possible?

The Age reports on the two possibilities:

NOT enough water? There are only two alternatives. One is to pray for rain. The other is to pay more.

According to Paul Butler, the managing director of the British water company South East Water, customers, including business, will have to start getting used to the latter. And it could be a lot more expensive.

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“I think everybody out there is recognising there is something out there called climate change. And certainly, when we make our water resource plans, we make an allowance for climate change going forward. What it in effect does is put in place an amount of hedge room. It has to be met.”

Apart from the need to adapt for growing climate change issues, what is important is to put in place the infrastructure to create enough water.

The Murray-Darling plan hopes to cut down on the inefficient farmers however, in the long run desalination plants and recycled systems should be the way to go. If Dubai in a desert does not have water problems, Australia should not.

At the end it all comes down to costs and revenue. With a marginal cost of $1.16 for a kiloliter (1000 liters) of water in South Australia, it is a far cry from the $2.5 to $3 we pay for 600ml of bottled water. If we get ready to Pay more for water (nearing its real cost) then more water will be available, conservation will be possible and Australia can go back to living like the developed country that it is.