INDEPENDENT, UK - Australia is in the midst of a crippling drought, the
country's worst on record. Many towns and cities have been forced to
enact drastic water restrictions as reservoirs have run dry. Rivers have
been reduced to a trickle. The drought has severely damaged the
agricultural sector. Farmers are raising emaciated cattle and sheep.
Cotton-lint production has plummeted. Wine grape and rice output has
collapsed. Agricultural production has fallen by almost one-quarter in a
year. And it is estimated that the drought has knocked three-quarters to
1 per cent off the country's growth as a whole.
And now the government is reaching for desperate measures. Australia's
Prime Minister, John Howard, has announced there may be a ban on the use
of the country's largest river system for irrigation unless there is
significant rainfall over the next two months. The government is
preparing to wrest regulatory control of the Murray and Darling rivers
from the five states through which they run to ensure that water is
reserved for urban drinking supplies and farmers' domestic use.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2465904.ece
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country's worst on record. Many towns and cities have been forced to
enact drastic water restrictions as reservoirs have run dry. Rivers have
been reduced to a trickle. The drought has severely damaged the
agricultural sector. Farmers are raising emaciated cattle and sheep.
Cotton-lint production has plummeted. Wine grape and rice output has
collapsed. Agricultural production has fallen by almost one-quarter in a
year. And it is estimated that the drought has knocked three-quarters to
1 per cent off the country's growth as a whole.
And now the government is reaching for desperate measures. Australia's
Prime Minister, John Howard, has announced there may be a ban on the use
of the country's largest river system for irrigation unless there is
significant rainfall over the next two months. The government is
preparing to wrest regulatory control of the Murray and Darling rivers
from the five states through which they run to ensure that water is
reserved for urban drinking supplies and farmers' domestic use.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2465904.ece
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