SO Sydney has achieved a massive two metres of rain this year for only the fifth time since records have been taken, and is on track for its wettest year on record.
Our dams are bursting at the seams, with predictions of above-average spring rains, and the strong possibility of even more flooding.
At this time, let us again reflect back on the comments from scaremongers during the Millennium Drought who told us our dams would never fill again.
With knee-jerk reaction, our politicians then decided to reduce our food and fibre production so we could “save” the limited water that, we were told, would forever fall in insufficient quantity to fill our storages (yes, the ones that are now overflowing).
Do our city folk – who support this water policy madness – understand that when we grow less, their food prices increase. And that our farmers need a reliable water supply so they can put this food on our kitchen tables at a reasonable price?
We do not need to “recover” more water for the environment. What we do need is to accept that Australia continues to be a continent of “drought and flooding rain”. As such, sensible water policy would be storing supplies during the present time of excess falls, then managing it effectively for environmental and agricultural purposes during times of short supply.
This should not be a difficult concept to grasp, but due to the “green” influence on our public policy, it is one we continue to struggle with.
What a shame, in present circumstances, that those who promoted the fallacy that our dams would never fill again will not admit the error of their ways and support the sensible, balanced management of our water resource.
Val McWhae
Barham, NSW
