I don’t know about you other Numb Nuts out there; but as far as I’m concerned we’re still in a drought! Right?
Well; I would consider, less than average rainfall and a heck of a lot less than 50% full dams, a DROUGHT!
And at least the council agrees wi- HANG ON!!! No they don’t. “We’re doing fine” they say. “Lets let people water their gardens twice a week” they said. “Well done, people. You did such a good job over winter” they said.
Oh, yes we did, didn’t we!!! We got the dams back UP to 30%. That is certainly something to be very proud of.
So now if you’re house is an odd number you can water on Tuesdays and Saturdays between 7 and 8pm. If you’re house is an even number then you can water between 7 and 8pm on Wednesdays and Sundays.
In fact if anyone is interested, I’m having a water party at my house. I’m going to fill my garage with water bombs and we’re going to run around the back yard throwing them at each other. We’ll have kiddy pools in the front yard in the morning and then when the sun goes to the other side of the house we’ll pour the water out and take them around to the back. This is all to celebrate the end of the drought. In fact we’ll do it every Tuesday and Sunday until the end of summer as a kind of ’surplus of water’-fest.
I’m very annoyed about this new policy. We’ve managed to last almost a whole year on these Stage 4 water Restrictions. What makes the Council think that we can waste this precious resource on gardens that have managed without it. People are doing great with their buckets and grey water systems. So don’t let them use more water (you stupid f-) compensate people or make it more worth our while to NOT waste water.
*I’m not even going to get started on bloody Melbourne people and their lack of understanding for water; “Oooh, let’s put them on 3A water restrictions so they can still water” [their ugly terrace pot plants with their stolen country water]. Melbourne are losing o.1% of the water levels in their dams due to the evaporation alone. That doesn’t even account for the tens of millions of litres used per day!!
You might be thinking; “come on Steve, it’s only 4hours a week”. Then I would be thinking; “are thinking that I’m being a bit over reactive because of the whole 4hour thing?” Well, that’s not the point.
In talking to one of my fellow co-workers (at work) I came to a point of disgust. She was very proud to say that she used the whole hour to water her garden! She was so happy to finally be able water her mass of flowers, trees and other aesthetically pleasing greenery. Alright, so good on her for having a hobby, but we are no better off than last year before summer (That’s right we’ve still got 4-5 months of bloody hot weather to get through. Sometimes Australians call it: ‘The Rainy Season’. Or is that just the councils.)
You also may have an argument along the lines of; “oh, but Steve; we’ve had lots of droughts before and we got through them.”
And I would reply; “Congratulations, Numby! We’ve had many in the 20th century and we’re fine now.
1900: drought
1914 – 1918: drought
1937 – 1947 (a whole 10 years!!!): drought
1965 – 1968: drought
1982 – 1983: drought
1994 – 1995: drought
AND NOW: drought (stated as being the worst on record since 1900)
I don’t know about you but I can see a pattern; lots of NO rain!!! Australia is DRY!
But that’s alright water your gardens twice a week!
You may now be thinking; “Yeah, but Steve; you said that it’s only the worst drought since 1900. So we’ve had worse and we got through it!”
I’d then say; “Well done, you thought that through very well.” I’d then punch you.
Our population is 5 times what it was in 1900.
Our society and way of life relies heavily on using water (often for ridiculously wasteful things such as; washing a car on concrete, washing concrete! and many other things to do with watering concrete [*psst: it doesn't grow]).
The average temperature has risen dramatically.
We can’t afford to base what we do now on how it was done in the past.
We need to preserve this precious resource that we clearly rely on way too much. Make the effort to at least not run the water when you brush your teeth.
Good on those people that made the effort to use buckets in showers etc.
You may now be saying; “How much longer is this rubbish going to go on for?”.
I would then say; “My first blog for 8months had to attempt to make for those lost months.”
You would then say; “well, it didn’t!”
I would reply to that with nothing and probably change the subject.
