No Watering Or Car Washing In Canberra By July If Rains Do Not Come - AFP

[hatrack]

The gardens gracing Australia's capital could soon be condemned to death by water restrictions as the country's worst drought in living memory bites deeper, an official said Tuesday. Canberra, where the roof of the federal parliament is covered with green lawn, will face the harshest possible cutbacks in water usage by July if it does not rain. The "stage four" restrictions could be imposed even earlier as dam levels continue to drop sharply, the managing director of the local water authority, Michael Costello, warned in a statement.

Stage four cuts ban the watering of gardens and the washing of cars. Even the fountains in the national capital would have to be turned off.

Costello said the water authority recognised the impact the harsh restrictions would have on the community, but said they were necessary to stop the city running out of water altogether. The authority has started consulting business and industry groups to ensure the restrictions have a minimal economic effect, he said.

In the past six years, water inflows to catchments in the area have dropped by 63 percent. Last year, they were almost 90 percent less than the long-term average.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Australian_Capital_Faces_Water_Cuts_999.html

[Bobbieo]

1. When are they going to build a desalting plant? It should have

been done years ago - when the drought first began

[XemaSab]

2. Why don't they turn off the f***ing fountains and let the lawn die

to preclude the kind of rationing that will kill mature trees that will take decades (if not more) to grow back? :shrug: