Drought du jour, part two

Australia is currently experiencing severe drought. The Murray-Darling river basin has suffered badly, and recently fears that the agricultural industry that it supports will falter have increased. Apparently, if things do not get better soon, then the drinking water supply taken from the river might be in danger:

“We’ve had very low inflows, we’ve had a very dry June and the focus absolutely has to be critical human needs, that is the needs of the million-plus people who rely on the basin for drinking water.

The report said the Murray-Darling system, accounting for more than 40 percent of the gross value of Australia’s agricultural production, should provide enough drinking water for 2008-09.

But the report from senior federal and state government officials warned there could be problems supplying drinking water after that if rains did not come.

This is reminiscent of the critical levels in Lake Lanier last year in the fact that true disruption in drinking water supplies might be imminent, and yet there appears to be NO contingency plan!  Or maybe that plan is best described as “Let’s hope like hell that Mother Nature takes care of us”.  Scary stuff.