FLOODS AND DROUGHT

AS I WRITE this, it’s been announced that we had our driest year on record. At the same time the north is getting metres of rain daily and much more is forecast for the next five days.

It is also beginning to rain in the drier north-western areas, so let’s hope that they get a reasonable drenching while it’s there. They’ve suffered for so long and deserve a decent break.

However remember, we are a land of drought and flooding rains. Drought will be back soon enough. Good reason to once again remind our politicians of the Bradfield scheme, namely to turn some of the northern river waters south west.

It will cost, but it can be done and the benefits will be enormous, even possibly saving the huge fish deaths being experienced right now, a lot of which can be blamed on three things.

They are: Too much irrigating on large scales, lack of flow due to drought and also the lack of action by all governments over the past 60 years. We see countless trillions of litres of water simply flowing wasted into our Northern and Eastern oceans.

A recent letter writer said that all of the water in dams across the world was putting our planet out of kilter. Bunkum. Surely so. The water is on the earth whether in dams, rivers, tanks or oceans. The quantity remains the same.

Meanwhile our dams go down and down. Our turn may be soon.

RAY HARCH, Toowoomba