We require a better plan for water security

摘要

Vast swathes of the country are now extremely dry, and few will complain if the rain forecast next week lasts a fortnight. Experts are still haggling over when exactly we will have reached the textbook definition of drought, but it could come as soon as today (12 August), when the National Drought Group is scheduled to meet. The effect of the lower-than-average rainfall this spring and summer is already abundantly clear for all farming sectors in affected areas, with cattle and sheep eating into this winter's fodder supplies and some of next year's cropping plans in jeopardy.