Just 60 Days Of Water Left

One town has already run dry and thousands of desperate Aussie families could soon run out of drinking water

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There are young children in parts of the Upper Hunter in NSW who are having their baths in buckets so the water can be recycled for the two loads of washing each household is allowed.

Soon even that scant allocation of water may evaporate as the worst drought in history’s deadly grip on Australia forces farmers off the land as millions of hectares of pasture turn to dust. Nearly 500km north of the Hunter Valley, in the Queensland town of Stanthorpe, the situation is so dire, residents are now down to using less than 120 litres each a day – the average Australian shower uses at least 55 litres. Warwick is also facing a zero-water crisis, yet will have to provide water to Stanthorpe – until there’s none left.

Just over the border in the NSW town of Tenterfield, one bore is only able to replenish about half of what the town’s dam is losing. The dam will be empty within 200 days.

ONLY DAYS TO GO

At Walcha, a beef and sheep farming town on the NSW northern tablelands, where water has never been a scarce resource, the townsfolk are now less than 60 days away from completely running out. Their desperate neighbours at Guyra are already trucking in water.

Trucks are shipping in water in several towns and villages across NSW and Queensland. The NSW Government has already committed $15 million to get water to places like Menindee, Pooncarie and Tibooburra. Orange, Narromine, Cobar and Nyngan will also run out of water within months.