Metropolis strives to meet its thirst (BBC) {Perth, OZ}

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By Maggie Ayre
BBC Costing The Earth

The Australian of the year 2007, environmentalist Tim Flannery, once predicted that Perth in Western Australia could become the world's first ghost metropolis, its population forced to abandon the city due to lack of water.

While some critics scoffed at this idea, there is no doubt that it has forced the city to wake up to the fact its water is running out and that it can no longer rely on its natural supply.

Australians are some of the world's greatest energy consumers, and people in Perth use more water than any other city in Australia.

Yet theirs is also the driest climate in the world, and Perth sits right on the edge of a vast desert, an island of greenery in the form of European style parks and gardens.

Consumption paradox

The city's case is a fascinating paradox of over consumption matched by a dawning awareness of climate change that is resulting in an urgent response to safeguard the city's water supplies for the future.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6620919.stm

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