“Day zero” approaches for drought affected towns

Regional communities across Australia are staring down the barrel of what authorities dub “day zero”:

Almost a dozen towns across regional New South Wales and southern Queensland are staring down the battle of a crisis that’s been dubbed “day zero”.

It describes the looming risk of running out of drinking water, as the ongoing drought continues to wreak havoc for tens of thousands of Australians in dry communities.

Local Government NSW president Linda Scott said a number of regional cities and towns are preparing for a day zero that’s less than 12 months away, with some expected to face it within three to six months.

“And in some areas, it’s probably a matter of weeks,” Ms Scott told news.com.au.

“This is very serious. Carting water in trucks for hundreds of kilometres on dirt roads is going to be the only way some councils can provide drinking water to locals”…

Towns at risk of running out of water are implementing emergency management protocols to extend current supplies as long as possible.

Apart from that, the immediate hope is that it rains sooner rather than later.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the past several months had seen below average rainfall for most of New South Wales and inland southern Queensland, with no reprieve in sight.

This harsh reality flies in the face of the federal government’s “migrants to the bush” policy, which aims to direct thousands of migrants to the regions to take the strain off the major cities.

How realistic is this policy when many regional centres are devoid of water and could not cope with extra demand, especially given much of Regional Australia is located far away from the ocean and water desalination is not available.

Water scarcity remains the inconvenient truth Australia’s mass immigration spruikers continue to ignore.