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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we
experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? -- __________________________________ I worship a God who justifies the ungodly. The Bible, Romans 4:5 |
#2
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
"S. McLaren" wrote in message ... Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? -- There have been many magic cures proposed to water the dead heart. Send the water from the east coast back over the mountains to the Murray-Darling, dig a channel from the ocean up to Lake Eyre....... nothing that is really feasible. Even if such schemes could be built are we sure that in the long run the change would be beneficial? Look at the side effects of parts of the Snowy scheme or of irrigation from the major rivers - these were all hailed as the best thing since sliced bread when they were shiny and new. As for the fires have a look at an aerial map of Sydney, it looks like an octopus with roads, rail and houses radiating out in a series of arms along the ridges and bush in the valleys between. The Blue Mountains are the same in a fish-bone pattern. Short of Agent Orange followed by concrete how will you stop the fires running through the valleys? The posturing about more hazard reduction burning is just that. If you were to perform the level of clearing required to really stop the fires the outcry would be huge, probably lead by those who suggested the burn in the first place. Of course the people who choose to build in those leafy green suburbs, the blocks backing on to the bush are the most prized, will tell you that when the fires come through it's just really bad luck. The fact that you cannot get flood insurance if you build on a flood plain but you can get fire insurance anywhere tells us something about how well risk has been identified historically. I think there is more future in learning to live with the land that we have than trying to transform it to something else. Until we have a political system that rewards those who take the long view it will be convenient to blame 'nature' rather than accept that too often we have made poor decisions about our use of the land. I should live so long. David |
#3
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
Shoot the bloody greenies and burn the bush like it is suposed to be.
Remember may Oz plants can't release seed without fire. "S. McLaren" wrote in message ... Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? -- __________________________________ I worship a God who justifies the ungodly. The Bible, Romans 4:5 |
#4
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
"SG1" wrote in message
... Shoot the bloody greenies and burn the bush like it is suposed to be. Remember may Oz plants can't release seed without fire. Personally I thought of flying them to the West Bank and tying them with signs that say "Suicide Bombers are Murderers" and leaving them in the path of a Hamas Protest March. |
#5
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
Shoot the bloody greenies and burn the bush like it is suposed (sic) to be. ??? Where the hell did that come from? How do the "greenies" cause a lack of bushfires? Remember may (sic) Oz (sic) plants can't release seed without fire. True, but they do not need fire every year. Personally I thought of flying them to the West Bank and tying them with signs that say "Suicide Bombers are Murderers" and leaving them in the path of a Hamas Protest March. Good to see we're getting some sensible solutions at last. When we have no idea, label a group of people as "greenies" or "lefties" or something and try to portray them as the problem. Sut beriously, there are solutions, but we're never going to get a government to implement them while we keep electing the usual politicians. Oh, and while we label people that care as "greenies", as though it is a negative.* * Sigh...yes, I *know* some of them are useless people with no clue, but the same applies to all groups of people. -- Stephen Oakes |
#6
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
Maybe we should shoot the bloody people who want to live in areas such
as the blue mountains where there is and always will be a fire problem, because as you rightly point out many australian natives need fire, and seeing the majority of plants in the blue mountains are eucalypts... gee its no wonder why theres bushfires in that area D "SG1" wrote in : Shoot the bloody greenies and burn the bush like it is suposed to be. Remember may Oz plants can't release seed without fire. "S. McLaren" wrote in message ... Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? -- __________________________________ I worship a God who justifies the ungodly. The Bible, Romans 4:5 |
#7
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
There have been many magic cures proposed to water the dead heart. Send the water from the east coast back over the mountains to the Murray-Darling, dig a channel from the ocean up to Lake Eyre....... nothing that is really feasible. Even if such schemes could be built..... What about a simple water conservation scheme to start off with? Increase the tax on water to get people to think twice before they waste water. (Doesn't it irk you that Transurban uses 1,000,000 litres of fresh water a day as ballast for their tunnel?) And encourage people through tax breaks if they install water saving devices like water tanks or water purification systems. |
#8
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
"S. McLaren" wrote in message ... "David Hare-Scott" wrote in message There have been many magic cures proposed to water the dead heart. Send the water from the east coast back over the mountains to the Murray-Darling, dig a channel from the ocean up to Lake Eyre....... nothing that is really feasible. Even if such schemes could be built..... What about a simple water conservation scheme to start off with? Increase the tax on water to get people to think twice before they waste water. (Doesn't it irk you that Transurban uses 1,000,000 litres of fresh water a day as ballast for their tunnel?) And encourage people through tax breaks if they install water saving devices like water tanks or water purification systems. I am all for such simple schemes. Water rates that have a sliding scale so that the profligate pay more per kilolitre would be a good start. There would have to be a special hardship clause or shower timers for those with daughters though :-) If not tax breaks then at least local gov encouragement and free information on grey water re-use and owning watertanks would be useful. My guess was that the original poster had something more of a cure-all in mind. David |
#9
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
Well I dunno about "solving bushfires" but i think the water usage
problem would be dramatically improved if all new (and replacement) plumbing systems were compost toilets, worm-farm waste systems and the like.. imagine those lush green lawns, gardens and vegie patches.. imagine the water saved from non-water using toilets and recycling shower water into the washing machine etc. cheers, aprill d wrote: Maybe we should shoot the bloody people who want to live in areas such as the blue mountains where there is and always will be a fire problem, because as you rightly point out many australian natives need fire, and seeing the majority of plants in the blue mountains are eucalypts... gee its no wonder why theres bushfires in that area D "SG1" wrote in : Shoot the bloody greenies and burn the bush like it is suposed to be. Remember may Oz plants can't release seed without fire. "S. McLaren" wrote in message ... Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? -- __________________________________ I worship a God who justifies the ungodly. The Bible, Romans 4:5 |
#10
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
We have three rainwater tanks. Use it for drinking & cooking and one tank
for the garden & the dogs. Just had water restrictions for 2 weeks now the local weir is full, 5-8 inches upstream got the waterholes filled and the Moonie river is now flowing. Giving our good Qld water to the Pinkos (Carr) in NSW. We have had 30mm so far this month. Regarding usage of water our allocation is one (1) megalitre (4 1/4 blocks) and we use just over 30% of that. Jim In the middle of a Qld drought "David Hare-Scott" wrote in message u... "S. McLaren" wrote in message ... "David Hare-Scott" wrote in message There have been many magic cures proposed to water the dead heart. Send the water from the east coast back over the mountains to the Murray-Darling, dig a channel from the ocean up to Lake Eyre....... nothing that is really feasible. Even if such schemes could be built..... What about a simple water conservation scheme to start off with? Increase the tax on water to get people to think twice before they waste water. (Doesn't it irk you that Transurban uses 1,000,000 litres of fresh water a day as ballast for their tunnel?) And encourage people through tax breaks if they install water saving devices like water tanks or water purification systems. I am all for such simple schemes. Water rates that have a sliding scale so that the profligate pay more per kilolitre would be a good start. There would have to be a special hardship clause or shower timers for those with daughters though :-) If not tax breaks then at least local gov encouragement and free information on grey water re-use and owning watertanks would be useful. My guess was that the original poster had something more of a cure-all in mind. David |
#11
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
"muser" wrote in message
... Well I dunno about "solving bushfires" but i think the water usage problem would be dramatically improved if all new (and replacement) plumbing systems were compost toilets, worm-farm waste systems and the like.. imagine those lush green lawns, gardens and vegie patches.. imagine the water saved from non-water using toilets and recycling shower water into the washing machine etc. Hmmm.. that would be really good. I'm all for such "green" measures! Do any of the farmers here practise the horticultural methods used by the farmers in Israel? I've read pretty impressive accounts of how they are surviving in an arid land using very radical water saving measures. |
#12
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
Do any of the farmers here practise the horticultural methods used by the farmers in Israel? I've read pretty impressive accounts of how they are surviving in an arid land using very radical water saving measures. No, the farmers here use quite primitive measures (clearing the land, working it until its topsoil blows away, spraying crops at mid-day, etc.) but as soon as you start saying such things you are bombarded with diatribes ("Australia needs farmers", "going bankrupt", etc). Every time we have a drought the politicians and farmers and other "interested" groups start talking about more progressive methods, but it soon dies away when profits return. The sad fact is that farmers can rely on handouts when times are tough. (I hope this doesn't sound like an attack just on farmers - it should really be an attack on everyone.) -- Stephen Oakes |
#13
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
"Stephen Oakes" wrote in message
news:RABL9.12187$y17.38565@news- No, the farmers here use quite primitive measures (clearing the land, working it until its topsoil blows away, spraying crops at mid-day, etc.) but as soon as you start saying such things you are bombarded with diatribes ("Australia needs farmers", "going bankrupt", etc). I remember watching documentaries criticizing Australian farming practises back in 1984 when I was in high school. Why haven't they changed or, at least, the government has tried to encourage them to turn to more efficient farming methods? I went for a trip out to the country side recently and was aghast to see some farmers using their industrial water spraying systems at 1 in the afternoon. I fought the temptation to ask them whether they realized that 80% of their watering is lost due to evaporation. |
#14
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
In article ,
"S. McLaren" wrote: Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? Learn to live with it is the phrase that occurs to me. We know our outback swings from drought to flooding rains (to coin a phrase) and we need to stock up on fodder in good seasons, rather than overstocking the land. I have come across reports of farmers who are only now running out of fodder because this is a far longer drought than normal, and I think they should be rewarded somehow for coping so well. We also need to reward the ones who reduce their water consumption and put in erosion-proofing measures (fencing and reafforesting streams and so on. Some of the ideas from permaculture would probably be very helpful. Given that most of the fires around Sydney seem to be started by arsonists, we need to work out some way to catch them. I have no idea how we'd do this. -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) Once long ago, against her breast, a mother hush'd a babe to rest Who was the Prince of heav'n above, the Lord of gentleness and love... John Wheeler, 'The Silver Stars are in the Sky' |
#15
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Solving the Drought and Bushfire crisis
S. McLaren wrote:
Is there a credible solution to the drought and bushfire problems we experience regularly? Or is it a situation of simply sucking it in and taking the "punishment" whenever it comes? Get the "cowboy" element out of the Bushfire Brigade. Never have I seen such a large number of social misfits gathered in one place. I'm getting a little tired of how the media portay these people as "hero's"...Did anyone see the melted bushfire truck that Channel 9 constantly used as a backdrop for all their shots? I think it was at Glenorie. The volunteers in the truck were constantly referred to as "hero's"....Hero's? How the hell can you call them hero's? They nearly killed themselves through stupidity and wrote off a perfectly good fire truck that could have been used to save someone else,s property! It's true that a small minority of these people are the bravest men and women you could ever come acrooss. But the majority just love all the media attention, the riding in trucks with elbows resting out the window, the wipe of a sweaty brow when the SKY camera's are on.... etc, etc. Living in Heathcote I've seen it first hand. I've seen one group laughing, joking, eating sandwiches and drinking coca cola and then when the cameras show up they all lay on the ground and look dejected...LOL...It would be the funniest thing I've ever seen if these people werent playing with peoples lives|homes... My suggestion is to remove the volunteer element from the bushfire brigade. Make it a full time paid job where u have to sit an entrance exam similar to the NSWFB, then a demanding physical, etc. It's the only way. Think about it. If a scrawny, pimply faced girl runs up to your front door in a blind panic screaming at you to evacuate are you really going to do it? I know that I wouldn't......yet that was their evacuation proceedure last xmas....Pathetic. -- Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite.... All of which are American dreams...... |
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