Drought in Australia
Encyclopedia
Drought in Australia is defined as rainfall over a three month period being in the lowest decile
of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought
is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns including seasonal variations. Specifically drought in Australia
is defined in relation to a rainfall deficiency of pastoral lease
s and is determined by decile analysis applied to a certain area.
Historical climatic records are now sufficiently reliable to profile climate variability taking into account expectations for regions. State Governments
are responsible for declaring a region drought affected and the declaration will take into account factors other than rainfall.
Since 1860, when adequate meteorological recording commenced, the most severe droughts have occurred commonly at intervals of 11 to 14 years. Major droughts that were recorded later in the 19th century include:
the total sheep population dropped to fewer than 54,000,000 from a total of 106,000,000 sheep in 1891 and cattle numbers fell by more than 40 per cent. It was 1925 before the sheep numbers reached the hundred-million mark again.
At the time of Federation, Australia suffered a major drought. There had been a number of years of below average rainfall across most of Australia before the drought. During the drought the wheat
crop was "all but lost" and the Darling River
was dry at Bourke, New South Wales
for over a year from April 1902 to May 1903. There was concern about Sydney
's water supply
. In the 1911-1915 period, Australia suffered a major drought
which resulted in the failure of the 1914 wheat crop.
During 1918 to 1920 a severe drought was experienced by Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory (Darwin-Daly Waters area and central Australia), Western Australia (Fortescue area), Victoria, and Tasmania.
During World War II
, eastern Australia suffered dry conditions which lasted from 1937 through to 1947 with little respite. The end of the drought coincided with the 1946-47 Ashes series, it rained in all 25 matches played by the tourists, including two tropical rainstorms during the First Test at Brisbane and another in the Second Test at Sydney. From 1965-68 eastern Australia was again greatly affected by drought. Conditions had been dry over the centre of the continent since 1957, but spread elsewhere during the summer of 1964/1965. This drought contributed to the 1967 Tasmanian fires
in which 62 people died in one day and 1,400 homes were lost. The drought in 1982-83
is regarded as the worst of the twentieth century for short-term rainfall deficiencies of up to one year and their overall impact. There were severe dust storms in north-western Victoria and severe bushfires in south-east Australia in February 1983
with 75 people killed. This El-Nino related drought ended in March when a monsoon depression became an extratropical low and swept across Australia's interior and on to the south-east in mid to late March.
A very severe drought occurred in the second half of 1991 which intensified in 1994 and 1995 to become the worst on record in Queensland
. This drought was influenced by a strong El Nino weather pattern and associated with high temperatures in July and August 1995, the fifth continuous year of drought in parts of Queensland. According to Primary Industries Minister, Ed Casey, "the drought affected region stretched in a 200 km to 300 km wide strip from Stanthorpe
to Charters Towers
". So few wheat
and barley
crops survived, about half the usual for that year, that grains had to be imported from other states.
In June 1994, more than 10 towns had lost irrigation systems and some areas had gone five years without decent rainfall.
A part of the upper Darling River
system collapsed during this drought. By October 1994, the Condamine River
was exhausted, reverting to a series of ponds. Across the state more than 13,000 properties, totaling 40% of Queensland was drought declared. The flow past Goondiwindi
was the lowest since 1940. Cotton farms near Moree
and Narrabri
had been allocated no water for irrigation which resulted in a major loss of production. The town of Warwick
was particularly affected.
influenced weather patterns.
Then from 2003 a long, severe drought, again the worst on record was experienced in many parts of Australia.
. Across Victoria and the Murray-Darling Basin
the season was the second driest since 1900. New South Wales' rainfall was boosted by above normal falls along the north coast of the state
, however the state average rainfall for the season is the third driest since 1900. The situation has been worsened by temperatures being the highest on record since the 1950s.
. Because of the long-term effects of the drought now showing, many state
governments are attempting to "drought-proof" their states with more permanent solutions.
Australia in the past hundred years has relied solely on water from dams for agriculture and consumption. Now schemes like grey-water water-recycling
, government rebate
s for home-owners to install water tank
s, and tougher restrictions on industries have come into effect.
The citizens of Toowoomba voted on, and rejected, a referendum
on using recycled sewerage water. However, after the referendum Toowoomba began using recycled sewerage water as no other feasible alternative was available. Brisbane is set to be supplied via larger dams, a pipeline and possibly also recycling. A desalination project has been initiated on the Gold Coast
, Queensland, but plans for a similar project in Sydney
were halted after public opposition and the discovery of underground aquifer
s. In November 2006 Perth
completed a seawater desalination
plant that will supply the city with 17% of its needs. Likewise, the Victorian Government is also in the process of building one of the world's largest desalination plants. When complete, it will be capable of producing up to a third of Melbourne's water needs.
Dairy producers have been hit particularly hard by the drought that has swept much of Australia. And 2004 was a particularly bleak year in the sector, as a drought-caused drop in production sent revenue in the industry down by 4.5%.
Most Australian mainland capital cities are facing a major water crisis with less than 50% of water storages remaining. For example, Melbourne has had rain up to 90% below the average for September and October 2006, compounding the problem of extremely low rainfall from the preceding winter months. Melbourne has been experiencing high temperatures throughout October causing the evaporation
of water in dams and reservoirs, which has resulted in their levels falling by around 0.1% a day. As a result of all these factors Melbourne
is now on tighter water restriction
s and as of July 2009, water levels in its dams are at a mere 27% of capacity.
Agricultural production has been affected. Australia's cotton
production has dropped, with the smallest area planted in 20 years, a 66% reduction compared to five years ago (considered a "normal" year). The crop has been half its usual size for three of the past five years. Water use by the industry fell by 37% between 2000/01 and 2004/05, due mainly to drought. In the order of 20 cotton communities and 10,000 people directly employed by the cotton industry are impacted by the drought. The main areas affected are in New South Wales: Menindee
where the area under production has reduced by 100%, Bourke
has reduced the area under production by 99%, Walgett
has reduced the area under production by 95%, the Macquarie River
has reduced the area under production by 74% and the Gwydir River
has reduced the area under production by 60%. In Queensland the worse affected areas are Biloela
which has reduced the area under production by 100%, at Dirranbandi
there has been a 91% reduction, Central Highlands
has reduced the area under production by 82% and Darling Downs has reduced the area under production by 78%. Bourke has only had adequate water for one cotton crop in the last five years.
Stock feed is also becoming scarce and farmers are finding it difficult to feed cattle and sheep.
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In early 2007, senior weather forecasters predicted that the drought would ease along the east coast with a return to average rainfall from late February 2007. Forecasters believed that the El Niño effect that had been rampant during 2006 and 2007 had ended. Heavy rainfall in June and July, particularly in coastal regions of New South Wales and in Victoria's Gippsland
region, together with tentative forecasts of a La Niña
event, brought hope that the drought may have ended.
The Prime Minister at the time, John Howard
, announced on 19 April 2007 that unless there was substantial rain in the next six weeks no water would be allocated to irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin for the coming year. The result of this would have directly affected the 50,000 farmers and the economy. Electricity shortages may also have occurred if the Snowy Mountains Scheme
had been forced to shut down its hydroelectric generators.
However, in August 2007, the Darling River
flowed again after nearly a year of no flows. Inflows into the Murray-Darling Basin in the winter of 2007 were amongst the lowest on record though marginally better than those of the winter of 2006 which had been the driest on record.
The drought in Sydney eased around April 2008, when Sydney's main water catchments reached 65 percent, 25 per cent fuller than it was at the same time the previous year.
However Victoria remained drought affected, with Melbourne's water supplies dipping to around 30% by July 2008.
In June 2008 it became known that an expert panel had warned of long term, maybe irreversible, severe ecological damage for the whole Murray-Darling basin
if it did not receive sufficient water by October of that year.
In Tasmania
drought conditions worsened in 2008, with many areas reporting no significant rainfall for three years.
had had Stage 3a water restrictions from 1 April 2007, and narrowly avoided Stage 4 restrictions, with the minimum storage level of around 25.8% remaining above the threshold of 25% for enacting Stage 4. Many towns in Victoria
were close to running out of water, with some of the few Victorian towns without water restrictions being in the East Gippsland
water area, where reservoir levels were above 80%.
in March did little to help Melbourne's storage levels, but steady winter rains, and the 2010 Victorian floods
in September, caused storage levels to remain above about 32.7%, rising to over 46% in September and 51% by late November.
2010 has seen Australia officially record its wettest spring on record due to a moderate to strong La Nina developing over the region. Water restrictions were reduced to stage 3 on 2 April, and stage 2 on 1 September. 2010 has also seen Melbourne reach average annual rainfall since 1996, and its wettest spring since 1993.
The drought in Queensland has mostly eased with Brisbane
recording very heavy rain in May 2009, and premier Anna Bligh
announcing that South East Queensland
was no longer experiencing drought. Brisbane's dams are now at full capacity with the state in general experiencing its wettest spring on record.
The drought in New South Wales has also eased. In the beginning of 2010 the percentage of the state in drought was pushing 70%. As of December 2010, the entire state is officially out of drought, with the entire state recording its wettest spring on record. Several rivers, including rivers in the outback have flooded several times, and many dams are now overflowing, including the Burrendong
, Burrinjuck
and Pindari
Dams. Canberra's dams are now above 90%.
Despite Western Australia experiencing its fifth wettest spring on record, the South West, Gascoyne and Pilbara regions of Western Australia
's drought has intensified, with the region experiencing its driest year on records, with Perth's dams registering it's lowest inflows on record with the city itself likely to register its third-driest year on record, along with the hottest spring on record. Prospects for a wetter than average summer, however, look likely for the state, along with the rest of Australia.
organisation, Sustainable Population Australia
, have contended that as the driest inhabited continent, Australia cannot continue to sustain its current rate of population growth without becoming overpopulated
. SPA also argues that climate change
will lead to a deterioration of natural ecosystems through increased temperatures, extreme weather events and less rainfall in the southern part of the continent, thus reducing its capacity to sustain a large population even further. In response to this, there are several movements and campaigns around the country which are advocating for environmental action.
The UK
-based Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), supports the view that Australia is overpopulated, and believes that to maintain the current standard of living
in Australia, the optimum population is 10 million (rather than the present 20.86 million), or 21 million with a reduced standard of living.
Decile
* In descriptive statistics, any of the nine values that divide the sorted data into ten equal parts, so that each part represents 1/10 of the sample or population* In astrology, an aspect of 36 degrees-See also:*Percentile*Quantile*Quartile*Summary statistics...
of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns including seasonal variations. Specifically drought in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is defined in relation to a rainfall deficiency of pastoral lease
Pastoral lease
A pastoral lease is Crown land that government allows to be leased, generally for the purposes of farming.-Australia:Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions....
s and is determined by decile analysis applied to a certain area.
Historical climatic records are now sufficiently reliable to profile climate variability taking into account expectations for regions. State Governments
Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
The Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...
are responsible for declaring a region drought affected and the declaration will take into account factors other than rainfall.
Droughts in the 19th century
- 1803 Drought in NSW that produced severe crop failures.
- 1809 Beginning of an unusually severe drought in NSW that continued until 1811.
- 1813-15 Severe drought in NSW that prompted searches for new pastures.
- 1826-29 Severe drought in NSW that caused Lake GeorgeLake George (New South Wales)Lake George is a lake in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia about 30 minutes drive north-east of Canberra along the Federal Highway en route to Sydney.-Geography / Geology:...
to dry up and the Darling RiverDarling RiverThe Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...
to cease flowing.
Since 1860, when adequate meteorological recording commenced, the most severe droughts have occurred commonly at intervals of 11 to 14 years. Major droughts that were recorded later in the 19th century include:
- 1829 Major drought in Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
with very little water available.
- 1835 and 1838 Sydney and NSW receive 25% less rain than usual. Severe drought in Northam and York areas of Western Australia.
- 1838-39 Droughts in South Australia and Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
- 1839 Severe drought in the west and north of Spencer Gulf, South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. - 1846 Severe drought converted the interior and far north of South Australia into an arid desert.
- 1849 Sydney received about 27 inches less rain than normal.
- 1850 Severe drought, with big losses of livestockLivestockLivestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
across inland New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
(NSW) and around the western rivers region. - 1864 - 66 (and 1868). The little data available indicates that this drought period was rather severe in VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, South Australia, New South Wales, QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and Western Australia. - 1877 All States affected by severe drought, with disastrous losses in Queensland. In Western Australia many native trees died, swampSwampA swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s dried up and crops failed. - 1880 to 1886 Drought in Victoria (northern areas and GippslandGippslandGippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
); New South Wales (mainly northern wheat belt, Northern TablelandsNorthern Tablelands, New South WalesThe Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England region, stretching from the Moonbi Range in the south to...
and south coast); Queensland (1881–86, in south-east with breaks - otherwise mainly in coastal areas, the central highlands and central interior in 1883-86); and South Australia (1884–86, mainly in agricultural areas). - 1888 Extremely dry in Victoria (northern areas and Gippsland); TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
(1887-89 in the south); New South Wales had the driest year since records began; Queensland (1888–89) had a very severe drought, with much native scrub dying and native animals perishing; South Australia had one of its most severe droughts; and Western Australia (central agricultural areas) lost many sheep.
Drought in the 20th century
During the severe, Australia wide, 1902 Federation DroughtFederation Drought
In Australia, the Federation Drought is the name given to a prolonged period of drought that occurred around the time of Federation in 1901.Though often thought of as a long drought, until the record dry year of 1902 the period was actually one of a number of very dry spells intercepted with wetter...
the total sheep population dropped to fewer than 54,000,000 from a total of 106,000,000 sheep in 1891 and cattle numbers fell by more than 40 per cent. It was 1925 before the sheep numbers reached the hundred-million mark again.
At the time of Federation, Australia suffered a major drought. There had been a number of years of below average rainfall across most of Australia before the drought. During the drought the wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
crop was "all but lost" and the Darling River
Darling River
The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...
was dry at Bourke, New South Wales
Bourke, New South Wales
-Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...
for over a year from April 1902 to May 1903. There was concern about Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's water supply
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
. In the 1911-1915 period, Australia suffered a major drought
1911-1916 Australian drought
The 1911–1916 Australian drought consisted of a series of droughts that affected various regions of Australia between the years of 1911 and 1916...
which resulted in the failure of the 1914 wheat crop.
During 1918 to 1920 a severe drought was experienced by Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory (Darwin-Daly Waters area and central Australia), Western Australia (Fortescue area), Victoria, and Tasmania.
During World War II
Military history of Australia during World War II
Australia entered World War II shortly after the invasion of Poland, declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces, whose military units fought primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and...
, eastern Australia suffered dry conditions which lasted from 1937 through to 1947 with little respite. The end of the drought coincided with the 1946-47 Ashes series, it rained in all 25 matches played by the tourists, including two tropical rainstorms during the First Test at Brisbane and another in the Second Test at Sydney. From 1965-68 eastern Australia was again greatly affected by drought. Conditions had been dry over the centre of the continent since 1957, but spread elsewhere during the summer of 1964/1965. This drought contributed to the 1967 Tasmanian fires
1967 Tasmanian fires
The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australian natural disaster which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which became known as the Black Tuesday bushfires...
in which 62 people died in one day and 1,400 homes were lost. The drought in 1982-83
1979-1983 Eastern Australian drought
Between 1979 and 1983 almost all of eastern Australia was affected by a major drought.Although in some places such as the South Coast the drought was almost continuous, in most of the affected region the major years of drought were 1980 and 1982.-Background:...
is regarded as the worst of the twentieth century for short-term rainfall deficiencies of up to one year and their overall impact. There were severe dust storms in north-western Victoria and severe bushfires in south-east Australia in February 1983
Ash Wednesday fires
The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 km per hour caused widespread destruction across the states...
with 75 people killed. This El-Nino related drought ended in March when a monsoon depression became an extratropical low and swept across Australia's interior and on to the south-east in mid to late March.
A very severe drought occurred in the second half of 1991 which intensified in 1994 and 1995 to become the worst on record in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. This drought was influenced by a strong El Nino weather pattern and associated with high temperatures in July and August 1995, the fifth continuous year of drought in parts of Queensland. According to Primary Industries Minister, Ed Casey, "the drought affected region stretched in a 200 km to 300 km wide strip from Stanthorpe
Stanthorpe, Queensland
Stanthorpe is a town situated in south east Queensland, Australia. The town lies on the New England Highway near the New South Wales border 223 km from Brisbane via Warwick, 56 km north of Tenterfield and 811 m above sea level. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt...
to Charters Towers
Charters Towers, Queensland
Charters Towers is a city in northern Queensland, Australia. It is located 137 kilometres inland from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. In 2006 the population was 7,979 people, some 450 fewer than in the 2001 census. During the last quarter of the 19th century the town boomed as the rich gold...
". So few wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
and barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
crops survived, about half the usual for that year, that grains had to be imported from other states.
In June 1994, more than 10 towns had lost irrigation systems and some areas had gone five years without decent rainfall.
A part of the upper Darling River
Darling River
The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...
system collapsed during this drought. By October 1994, the Condamine River
Condamine River
The Condamine River, part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, Australia...
was exhausted, reverting to a series of ponds. Across the state more than 13,000 properties, totaling 40% of Queensland was drought declared. The flow past Goondiwindi
Goondiwindi, Queensland
Goondiwindi is an Australian town of approximately 5,629 people. The town has an annual population growth of 1.4 percent. The name Goondiwindi derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "the resting place of the birds".-History:...
was the lowest since 1940. Cotton farms near Moree
Moree, New South Wales
Moree is a large town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River in the centre of the rich black-soil plains....
and Narrabri
Narrabri, New South Wales
Narrabri is a town and seat of Narrabri Shire Council Local Government Area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia. Narrabri is situated on the Namoi River and lies northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway...
had been allocated no water for irrigation which resulted in a major loss of production. The town of Warwick
Warwick, Queensland
Warwick is a town in Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Local Government Area. In 2006 the town of Warwick had a population of 12,562....
was particularly affected.
Drought in the 21st century
Around 2000 Australia was prone to wet weather brought on by La NiñaLa Niña
La Niña is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate pattern. During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C...
influenced weather patterns.
Rainfall deficiencies in 2006
As of November 2006, the late-winter to mid-spring rainfalls had failed. The average rainfall in the state of South Australia was the lowest since 19001900 in Australia
See also: 1899 in Australia, other events in 1900, 1901 in Australia, Timeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen VictoriaNote: Australia was not yet federated as of 1900, therefore no prime minister existed....
. Across Victoria and the Murray-Darling Basin
Murray-Darling Basin
The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...
the season was the second driest since 1900. New South Wales' rainfall was boosted by above normal falls along the north coast of the state
North Coast, New South Wales
Northern Rivers is a region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between 590 and 820 kilometres north of the state capital, Sydney...
, however the state average rainfall for the season is the third driest since 1900. The situation has been worsened by temperatures being the highest on record since the 1950s.
Responses during 2006 and 2007
The current drought has changed the way Australia treats its water resourcesWater resources
Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water....
. Because of the long-term effects of the drought now showing, many state
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
governments are attempting to "drought-proof" their states with more permanent solutions.
Australia in the past hundred years has relied solely on water from dams for agriculture and consumption. Now schemes like grey-water water-recycling
Greywater
Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands...
, government rebate
Rebate
Rebate can refer to:* Rebate or rabbet, a woodworking term for a groove* Film rebate, the term for the border around photographic film- Money :* Rebate , a type of sales promotion used in marketing* Tax rebate, a reduction in taxation demanded...
s for home-owners to install water tank
Water tank
A Water tank is a container for storing water. The need for a water tank is as old as civilized man, providing storage of water for drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation as well as many...
s, and tougher restrictions on industries have come into effect.
The citizens of Toowoomba voted on, and rejected, a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on using recycled sewerage water. However, after the referendum Toowoomba began using recycled sewerage water as no other feasible alternative was available. Brisbane is set to be supplied via larger dams, a pipeline and possibly also recycling. A desalination project has been initiated on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Queensland, but plans for a similar project in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
were halted after public opposition and the discovery of underground aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
s. In November 2006 Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
completed a seawater desalination
Desalination
Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...
plant that will supply the city with 17% of its needs. Likewise, the Victorian Government is also in the process of building one of the world's largest desalination plants. When complete, it will be capable of producing up to a third of Melbourne's water needs.
Dairy producers have been hit particularly hard by the drought that has swept much of Australia. And 2004 was a particularly bleak year in the sector, as a drought-caused drop in production sent revenue in the industry down by 4.5%.
Most Australian mainland capital cities are facing a major water crisis with less than 50% of water storages remaining. For example, Melbourne has had rain up to 90% below the average for September and October 2006, compounding the problem of extremely low rainfall from the preceding winter months. Melbourne has been experiencing high temperatures throughout October causing the evaporation
Evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid....
of water in dams and reservoirs, which has resulted in their levels falling by around 0.1% a day. As a result of all these factors Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
is now on tighter water restriction
Outdoor water-use restriction
An outdoor water-use restriction is a ban or other lesser restrictions put into effect that restricts the outdoor use of water supplies. Often called a watering ban or hosepipe ban, it can affect:*irrigation of lawns*car washing...
s and as of July 2009, water levels in its dams are at a mere 27% of capacity.
Agricultural production has been affected. Australia's cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
production has dropped, with the smallest area planted in 20 years, a 66% reduction compared to five years ago (considered a "normal" year). The crop has been half its usual size for three of the past five years. Water use by the industry fell by 37% between 2000/01 and 2004/05, due mainly to drought. In the order of 20 cotton communities and 10,000 people directly employed by the cotton industry are impacted by the drought. The main areas affected are in New South Wales: Menindee
Menindee, New South Wales
Menindee is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980.-History:...
where the area under production has reduced by 100%, Bourke
Bourke, New South Wales
-Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...
has reduced the area under production by 99%, Walgett
Walgett, New South Wales
Walgett is a town in North-West New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is at the junction of the Barwon and Namoi rivers and near the junction of the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways...
has reduced the area under production by 95%, the Macquarie River
Macquarie River
The Macquarie River is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales. Its headwaters rise in the central highlands of New South Wales near the town of Oberon. The river travels generally northwest past the towns of Bathurst, Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine, and Warren to the Macquarie Marshes...
has reduced the area under production by 74% and the Gwydir River
Gwydir River
The Gwydir River is a large inland river in the northern part of the Australian state of New South Wales which is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. The river has two main tributaries—the Horton River and the Rocky River...
has reduced the area under production by 60%. In Queensland the worse affected areas are Biloela
Biloela, Queensland
Biloela is a rural town in Central Queensland, Australia. It is situated inland from the port city of Gladstone at the junction of the Burnett and Dawson highways...
which has reduced the area under production by 100%, at Dirranbandi
Dirranbandi, Queensland
Dirranbandi is a town in south-western Queensland, Australia, located in the Shire of Balonne. It sits on the Castlereagh Highway and the Balonne River. It is notable for the population increase each year as seasonal workers come to work on the extensive cotton fields. Due to the low annual...
there has been a 91% reduction, Central Highlands
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...
has reduced the area under production by 82% and Darling Downs has reduced the area under production by 78%. Bourke has only had adequate water for one cotton crop in the last five years.
Stock feed is also becoming scarce and farmers are finding it difficult to feed cattle and sheep.
Predictions and observations for 2007-2008
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
region, together with tentative forecasts of a La Niña
La Niña
La Niña is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate pattern. During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C...
event, brought hope that the drought may have ended.
The Prime Minister at the time, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, announced on 19 April 2007 that unless there was substantial rain in the next six weeks no water would be allocated to irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin for the coming year. The result of this would have directly affected the 50,000 farmers and the economy. Electricity shortages may also have occurred if the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
had been forced to shut down its hydroelectric generators.
However, in August 2007, the Darling River
Darling River
The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...
flowed again after nearly a year of no flows. Inflows into the Murray-Darling Basin in the winter of 2007 were amongst the lowest on record though marginally better than those of the winter of 2006 which had been the driest on record.
The drought in Sydney eased around April 2008, when Sydney's main water catchments reached 65 percent, 25 per cent fuller than it was at the same time the previous year.
However Victoria remained drought affected, with Melbourne's water supplies dipping to around 30% by July 2008.
In June 2008 it became known that an expert panel had warned of long term, maybe irreversible, severe ecological damage for the whole Murray-Darling basin
Murray-Darling Basin
The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...
if it did not receive sufficient water by October of that year.
In Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
drought conditions worsened in 2008, with many areas reporting no significant rainfall for three years.
2009
In 2009, drought conditions in South East Australia continued, after one of the driest summers for the region. MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
had had Stage 3a water restrictions from 1 April 2007, and narrowly avoided Stage 4 restrictions, with the minimum storage level of around 25.8% remaining above the threshold of 25% for enacting Stage 4. Many towns in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
were close to running out of water, with some of the few Victorian towns without water restrictions being in the East Gippsland
East Gippsland
East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114....
water area, where reservoir levels were above 80%.
2010
The 2010 Victorian storms2010 Victorian storms
The 2010 Victorian storms were a series of storms that passed through much of the Australian state of Victoria on 6 March and 7 March 2010. One of the most severe storms passed directly over Greater Melbourne, bringing lightning, flash flooding, very large hail and strong winds to the state's capital...
in March did little to help Melbourne's storage levels, but steady winter rains, and the 2010 Victorian floods
2010 Victorian floods
The 2010 Victorian floods were a widespread series of flood events across the state of Victoria, Australia. The floods, which followed heavy rain across southeastern Australia in early September 2010, caused the inundation of about 250 homes, hundreds of evacuations and millions of dollars of...
in September, caused storage levels to remain above about 32.7%, rising to over 46% in September and 51% by late November.
2010 has seen Australia officially record its wettest spring on record due to a moderate to strong La Nina developing over the region. Water restrictions were reduced to stage 3 on 2 April, and stage 2 on 1 September. 2010 has also seen Melbourne reach average annual rainfall since 1996, and its wettest spring since 1993.
The drought in Queensland has mostly eased with Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
recording very heavy rain in May 2009, and premier Anna Bligh
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the Premier of Queensland since 2007. The 2009 Queensland state election was the first time a female-led political party won or retained state or federal government in Australia...
announcing that South East Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
was no longer experiencing drought. Brisbane's dams are now at full capacity with the state in general experiencing its wettest spring on record.
The drought in New South Wales has also eased. In the beginning of 2010 the percentage of the state in drought was pushing 70%. As of December 2010, the entire state is officially out of drought, with the entire state recording its wettest spring on record. Several rivers, including rivers in the outback have flooded several times, and many dams are now overflowing, including the Burrendong
Burrendong Dam
Burrendong Dam is a Rock-fill dam with a clay core across the Macquarie River upstream of Wellington in New South Wales, Australia.The dam impounds Lake Burrendong and is filled by the waters from the Macquarie and Cudgegong rivers....
, Burrinjuck
Burrinjuck Dam
Burrinjuck Dam is a high, concrete gravity dam on the Murrumbidgee River approximately 60 km from Yass, New South Wales, Australia. The Yass and Goodradigbee Rivers flow into the dam. The dam divides the upper and lower catchment of the Murrumbidgee and is the headwater storage for the...
and Pindari
Pindari Dam
Pindari Dam is a reservoir in New South Wales, Australia 22 kilometres east of the town of Ashford and north of Inverell. It is primarily an agricultural storage dam used extensively by the cotton industry....
Dams. Canberra's dams are now above 90%.
Despite Western Australia experiencing its fifth wettest spring on record, the South West, Gascoyne and Pilbara regions of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
's drought has intensified, with the region experiencing its driest year on records, with Perth's dams registering it's lowest inflows on record with the city itself likely to register its third-driest year on record, along with the hottest spring on record. Prospects for a wetter than average summer, however, look likely for the state, along with the rest of Australia.
Drought and population levels in Australia
The Australian environmental movementEnvironmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
organisation, Sustainable Population Australia
Sustainable Population Australia
Sustainable Population Australia is an Australian special advocacy group, founded in Canberra in 1988, which seeks to establish an "ecologically sustainable" human population...
, have contended that as the driest inhabited continent, Australia cannot continue to sustain its current rate of population growth without becoming overpopulated
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
. SPA also argues that climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
will lead to a deterioration of natural ecosystems through increased temperatures, extreme weather events and less rainfall in the southern part of the continent, thus reducing its capacity to sustain a large population even further. In response to this, there are several movements and campaigns around the country which are advocating for environmental action.
The UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), supports the view that Australia is overpopulated, and believes that to maintain the current standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
in Australia, the optimum population is 10 million (rather than the present 20.86 million), or 21 million with a reduced standard of living.
See also
- Climate change in AustraliaClimate change in AustraliaClimate change has become a major issue in Australia due to drastic climate events since the turn of the 21st century that have focused government and public attention. Rainfall in Australia has increased slightly over the past century, although there is little or no trend in rainfall in northeast...
- Deserts of AustraliaDeserts of AustraliaDeserts cover a large portion of the land in Australia. Most of the deserts lie in the central and north-western part of the country. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid...
- Extreme weatherExtreme weatherExtreme weather includes weather phenomena that are at the extremes of the historical distribution, especially severe or unseasonal weather. The most commonly used definition of extreme weather is based on an event's climatological distribution. Extreme weather occurs only 5% or less of the time...
- Federation DroughtFederation DroughtIn Australia, the Federation Drought is the name given to a prolonged period of drought that occurred around the time of Federation in 1901.Though often thought of as a long drought, until the record dry year of 1902 the period was actually one of a number of very dry spells intercepted with wetter...
- List of reservoirs and dams in Australia
- Peak waterPeak waterThe term Peak Water has been put forward as a concept to help understand growing constraints on the availability, quality, and use of freshwater resources...
- Water restrictions in AustraliaWater restrictions in AustraliaWater restrictions have been enacted in many cities and regions in Australia, which is the Earth's driest inhabited continent, in response to chronic water shortages resulting from the drought. Depending upon the location, these can include restrictions on watering lawns, using sprinkler systems,...
External links
- Drought
- Drought in Australia on Australian Bureau of StatisticsAustralian Bureau of StatisticsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
- Drought in Australia on Bureau of MeteorologyBureau of MeteorologyThe Bureau of Meteorology is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then...