An holistic approach to water demand
Preface: Since 1963 I have taken a serious interest in the worlds environment and it has become obvious that an holistic approach is vital.
All the worlds fresh water including ice caps can be included in a sphere 60 miles in diameter.
The world from the local to international must listen to 97% of environmental experts and take unified action that they recommend .
This leads logically to the conclusion that our group must have the latest data to fill in the gaps mentioned at the last meeting .Otherwise our generation will have left a legacy that is too awful to contemplate.
Prorities:
1. Secure a safe water supply for our region using the best methods possible which could be used as a blueprint for other regions and possibly pay for some of our costs.
2. Our team cannot give accurate answers unless it is informed regarding other projects in the region. For example if drinking water is likely during strong tides to be contaminated by salt water ,namely the pool from which our drinking water is taken just above the weir then this problem needs to be seriously considered by our group.
3. One of the safest reserves of water in extremely dry weather conditions is the underground water. This is a vital reserve and very precious. For example there are numerous commercial bores being used at low cost to the operators and huge road damage. Near my property one farmer has had his bore reduced to a saline source rather than drinking water. Suggestion our group makes a recommendation to council that users taking out excessive volumes of water are prosecuted. Also that they are charged a commercial rate and that the country back roads are subject to a weight limit. This would significantly reduce the burden on rate payers and reduce the loss of this vital resource. In parallel with the aforementioned action a review of this vital supply should be undertaken by experts .
4. Our team has only been given three options and there are clearly more . For example it has already been noted that our region has heavy rainfall followed by droughts so a possibility could be to store water in large reservoirs at a cheaper cost than dams . An example of this is the Queen Mary reservoir in southern UK that supplies a large part of London`s drinking water and gets back revenue from water sports. Britain recycles its drinking water over 15 times what is wrong with this since at the very least it has already been through millions of dinosaurs . There are many other options but I just want to open up a reasoned discussion.
5. When it comes to water people often under value it and put wealth and jobs first . My contention is that if we use the holistic approach we can be on the forefront of water preservation , create jobs and enrich our region.
Tony Thompson - PRG member
