Retrieved from: ABC
“Perth’s drinking water supplies from dams will run out by the end of next summer even with decent rainfall, according to predictions by the Centre for Water Research.
“By then, Perth and the South-West would become solely reliant on water supplied from the already stressed Gnangara Mound aquifer and the Kwinana desalination plant, director Jorg Imberger said.
“Even using an optimistic calculation that 35 gigalitres (35 billion litres) of rainwater would flow into the city’s dams – far greater than the 13 gigalitres last year – the dams would run dry.
“(Even) given recycled water, less water use, pumping the surface aquifer at Gnangara Mound a little bit more and hoping for rain, we’ll basically have no water left at the end of summer 2012,” Professor Imberger said.
“The comments confer with the national Climate Commissioners First Report released yesterday, which warns that water availability will be at great risk before the end of the century due to changing rainfall patterns.
“WA’s South-West region was already “drying out” and all projections showed no improvement, the report by Professor Will Steffen said.”
Read more: SMH
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