Drought

The Australian climate can be just brutal. Farmers near Adelaide are beginning to panic:

THE Murray River could dwindle to a trickle in just 24 weeks.

It would have catastrophic consequences for farmers and towns along the river and potentially cut off Adelaide's main water supply.

Official storage estimates from the Murray Darling Basin Commission show that just 2500 gigalitres remain in the system and its two main dams - the Hume and Dartmouth - are likely to be dry in months.

The Murray Darling Water Crisis Management Council - a group of farmers, shires and water experts - warned the Howard Government in Canberra yesterday that a crisis was building.

"The commission should be telling the public we are heading for an enormous disaster," Wakool Land Association president John Lolocato told the Herald Sun.

... The group told MPs there had to be an immediate moratorium on environmental flows until the crisis passed.

It also urged the construction of a low-level weir in Wellington, South Australia, to stop water flowing into Alexandrina and Albert lakes - playground of many of Adelaide's rich.

Barham farmer Neil Eagle warned Adelaide would be without water unless a weir was built.

"We've got to stop pouring water into wetlands that would be dry in a normal drought like this," he said.