All the signs of a major drought coming up

G'day fellow detectorists

I see all the current whether conditions leading up to a major drought heading our way. I do hope I'm wrong on this, but the predictions of our whether fore-castings aint looking good at all.  Only a matter of time before the water restrictions come into force, together with the total fire bans already in place.
Cover up up & stay well hydrated people, for all the signs are showing we're going to fry.  

Cheers all, Kon.

major drought???????????????????

We're already in one up here in QLD. Unless you're talking about a gold drought
Both my dams have been dry for 4 months.

I've been practicing for the drought for a while Kon; if it's yellow let it mellow,if it's brown flush it down scenario.
Showers are hooked up to grey water pipes that run onto the garden,every little bit helps I guess.
I'm not planning on the nude rain dance just yet

cheers moredeep

My gut feeling is that beyond the rain drought occurring right now, there is a monetary one just around the corner.
Another month of little or no worthwhile rain, cattle, sheep at record low levels, no optimism to sow crops.
All this adds up to fresh meat and vegetables at ever increasing prices plus the ongoing community cost of still burning bushfires.
It seems that in our town, nearly every week another main street store closes and I am sure we not in isolation there.
Way things look, come March there is going to be much talk of the "R" word.
M

On FB I follow the bloke who picked up Inigo Jones stuff (and W D Gann's before him).  He's predicted the current drought to reach peak in 20/21 and then a couple of years as rainfall picks up.

I live in the middle of the desert, I can leave my tap running for 24hours a day,the only downfall is a big water bill and lots of grass to cut,no water problems here, I do find it amusing how just about all the big cities rely on dam water,no rain and it’s a crisis,

meanwhile southern downs council in QLD sells off 96 million liters of water to overseas company so it can be bottled and sold for a profit.
Local towns in the area have been placed on extreme water restrictions[80 L/DAY]. Stanthorpe expected to run out of water within weeks,Go figure


Cheers moredeep

Not just sold for a profit moredeep, but sold back to the Queenslanders for a profit.

Cheers Kon.

There is something seriously wrong here, can you spot it, the Governments whether they be local, state or Federal are just taking advantage of us "Citizens" the only time they even realize we exist is just before an election and then they just spout the same continual BS and nothing changes.

Sure you can have more population in Australia without putting in any extra water infrastructure, just tell the people that are here now that they can only use 80L/person/day problem solved

Gigantic rivers in QLD and WA and the fresh water just flows into the sea, go figure, it's all in the to hard basket.

cheers dave

Anyone know whatever happened to the big De-salination plant in Gippsland,that was supposed to solve all our water problems?

Spot it? Oh I'v spotted it alright. Since the laws of accountability do not apply to politicians, then they can do what they like, when they like & not just with both hands in the kitty, but their boots & all.
Know this, the A*s* end of the stick (the average everyday working/ taxpayer) will keep on fitting the bill, to every corrupt misappropriation of tax payers funds by the politicians & I wish I could say that there's something that the tax payer can do about it, but there's not.  
Now where was I? Oh yes that's right, All in favour of another pay rise? I, I Mr speaker . Those against?  & the silence were deafening.
What about the average person/taxpayer out there Mr speaker? Should we not increase the wages to accompany the cost of living? Should we not give them a chance of keeping their heads above water?   What, what was that? who said that?  Lets not jump the gun here my fellow politicians, for we must not disrespect the first law of politics "Promise them everything till your'e voted in & then give them nothing"  Lest we forget how hard we fought (with lies & deceit) to get here hey?    
You mean the well overblown, into the $billions money pit of a desalination plant, through the Bracks era ? Yes well the tax payer is & has been fitting the bill towards maintaining it Sharkbait. Eventually we might have some use for it.  

Cheers Kon.

Sharkbait wrote:Anyone know whatever happened to the big De-salination plant in Gippsland,that was supposed to solve all our water problems?

Probably the same as the one that they built in Kurnell NSW cost over 2 Billion and well it gets used some of the time, when the dam levels fall to a certain pre determined level, like now, I believe it is running and converting sea water into potable water.

cheers dave

for a few dollars put one of these in ya back yard. well if you live near the ocean that is.

Emergency Water Source - Evaporating with a Solar Still

koeh wrote:I live in the middle of the desert, I can leave my tap running for 24hours a day,the only downfall is a big water bill and lots of grass to cut,no water problems here, I do find it amusing how just about all the big cities rely on dam water,no rain and it’s a crisis,

spot on.....I like droughts....dry conditions are better for prospecting!!

The Kurnell  NSW  de -sal . plant is up and running  but can only provide  10-12  %  of Sydney's water .  Water restrictions  are in place in Sydney , you cannot wash your car with a hose .

The pollies  are going to let 160,000   new  migrants into the county per year .   That will be fine if they bring all the water they will use  with them ...    If they use 50 lts.  per day  then that is  9 million lts per day . Times 7 , that is 63 million lts . per week and so on .

The last I heard the Wonthaggi desal was operational, but not sure on what basis. One hickup with the desal is that it eats power and with the Hazelwood power plant now shut down, not sure if the supplu needs could be met without some impact on power supply for other use, especially during peak days.

As we all know water was basically worth more than the precious metal being chased in the gold rush era during a drought.
Looks like history is repeating itself again because it cost a fortune to produce/buy de-sal water?? & bottled water is dearer than petrol


cheers moredeep

This country is resting on an ocean of fresh water, why are we not using it ?
Bottled water is tap water in a bottle and as stated it is dearer than petrol. Look at what is required to produce a litre of petrol compared to that of a litre of bottled water from a tap. Must be a lot of profit in tap water stuck in a bottle.

koeh wrote:I live in the middle of the desert, I can leave my tap running for 24hours a day,the only downfall is a big water bill and lots of grass to cut,no water problems here, I do find it amusing how just about all the big cities rely on dam water,no rain and it’s a crisis,

I guess all of that water you are using was once rain water and if 23 mill people plugged into your supply it might not last long?.....Then again; what is the point of it lasting a long time if nobody uses it.
A bit like a shoe salesman when you walk into his shop and ask for a pair of particular shoes and he says; No you cannot have those shoes coz it is the only pair I have left and there is no more available.

I can understand where koeh is coming from, in the inland, much of the domestic water supply is sourced from the Great Artesian Basin.
But, and thanks to many irrigators who pump from shallow sub artesian levels this supply is also being depleted.

There may be some here who remember the NSW spring fed creeks originating around Trunkey Creek, Tuena, Abercrombie, Crookwell, Bigga that no longer run unless there is a downpour. These creeks fed the Lachlan, Abercrombie river system which provided Wyangala dam with its water source.
But Wyangala is no longer a major source of irrigation water, merely a shadow of its levels of the 1960's,70's, even 80's. But why...... Go out to Hillston etc. and see the shallow sub artesian irrigators augering cheap water out of the ground. This water being sucked out, to grow vast acreages of sorghum, is the very water needed to keep Wyangala as a viable dam.
The days I recall are when tout were spawning in the top reaches of the Rocky Bridge, Copperhannia and Tuena Creeks.

(Sorghum, of course, is needed for the cattle feedlots producing top line export beef which never gets near our butcher shops.
In 1979, My wife and I "nearly" bought the commercial trout farm under the wall of Wyangala dam. )
m

The only way to combat rising water shortage is to tap the source running into the ocean on our Northern shores during the wet season and pipe it across the country.
Run a lottery every year, proceeds going to a "Save Australia Fund."
eg: 25 million tickets @ $100.00/ticket = $2.5 billion/year less $10 million for prizes for the lifetime of pipeline task.
Every politician must contribute $1000.00/annum and not be eligible for any of the prizes.
Do think ScoMo mob & the opposition will jump at this suggestion

If you don't hear from me again you will know I've been whisked away in the dead of the night wrapped up in a white jacket.....

Exactly how the Sydney Harbour Bridge debt was paid off then became the Opera House Lottery.
Mate of mine won $250k. in that one, bought a Land Cruiser and trailer boat with big (like real big!) outboard motor and set off on a fishing trip to the Gulf.
When they pulled up at the Heartbreak Hotel (Cape Crawford) one of the blokes noticed the motor was missing. Bugger, said the Boss, musta been stolen. But whoever the thief was also took the transom too, just left a few trailing cables behind the boat. Corrugations will steal anything!
End of story was they bought another boat and motor in Borroloola, went on to Ash Bay, never caught a Barra, sheared wheel studs off the rear of the Cruiser on the way home resulting in a roll destroying boat and truck, Greyhound bus back to Bathurst.......sometimes the very worst thing you can do is buy a ticket in a lottery.
m

boobook that happens a lot, but it not the Lottery it the Super.

Well I'm bloody convinced this droughts going to go on for longer .Just rereading a history journal today written by a local historian / prospector on our local Goldfields up in Nthrn NSW ,and in it he quotes the mining wardens annual reports ,and quotes him from 1897 - 1915 ,and in that period there was zero mining done at all ,the reason being there was no water due to that dry 18yr period .Indigo Jones followers I know are saying that for many in the interior wont see any real break in the drought till mid 2022 ! Even in my own lifetime I experienced the 60's drought out in western NSW ,Bourke that went on for 7 yrs .
 But the main point I want to make is ,and that i've been telling towns people, that when the drought does break where going to need 1 - 2 yrs of follow up good seasons to try and replenish our underground water tables ,our dams and to bring sub soil moisture profiles up ,in order to plant on .Graziers are going to need that period of time as well , in order to re establish grass cover ,besides many wont be able to buy stock any way as any breeding stock will be to dear any way .So the flow on affect from the drought I reckon will take 3-4 yrs after it breaks ,before  things start to '' normalize '' .
People also have to be aware that if they reckon food prices are getting dear now ,its going to get a lot worse in the next year or so .

You're not wrong there Hugh. Another month or so of this constant heat wave & only a matter of time before water regulations/restrictions kick in across Victoria.

Cheers Kon.

I am a bit worried, I"m an irrigator on the Murray, down stream in SA. Next year could be disaster for us with nothing to my understanding coming down the Darling.

Hey Kon we got some rain today but most of it evaporated b4 it hit the ground
As to water restriction they should be in place now!
I wear as a badge of honor a very dirty unwashed car,once in a blue moon I'll high pressure the mud from under the wheel arches other wise it stays DIRTY
I never wash my cars,when I go to sell a car I give em a quick wash /cut and polish and hey presto A NEW CAR AGAIN
Just doing my bit I guess.

cheers moredeep

I only wash the car when I want to see out of the windows !

Way to go Mike

cheers moredeep

That makes three of us fellas, only wash your car if you have to & you're right there moredeep, for I though we were on to some good shower/rain approaching, considering the darkish looking thundery clouds above, but it was only full of hot air & very little rain.

Cheers Kon.