Just been looking out from my top floor window at the pretty-much dead lawns of the blocks of flats in my street.

It really has been a very dry couple of months here in Sydney. I had a look at the rainfall figures - the last decent rain we got was 13.8mm (half an inch) on August 4th. In the two months since then we've had just 1.6mm (about 1/20th of an inch) of rain. And there's nothing more than a very small chance of a millimetre or two falling predicted for the next week.

Definitely not looking good for the bushfire season with Summer still a couple of months away. I have a feeling that water restrictions mightn't be too far off either. The last time we had a major drought (the 12-year long Millennium Drought in 1997–2009) I think water usage restrictions were brought in when dam levels dropped to either 85% or 80% of full capacity. In the end they got down to about 30% if I recall correctly. Last week the dams were around 87% full, and have been dropping by about 0.5%-0.8% per week.

Kind of funny with all the water in the ocean how some areas of the world can
be so dry.

It's not that bad here. The weather has been beautiful for the past couple of
weeks but we have not had rain during that time so it has been getting a bit
dry. However, we are expecting a good percentage of rain tomorrow and thru
the next several days.

I planted some shrubs and some pansies and where I planted the shrubs, I
have to fill gallon milk jugs of water, load them on the wagon behind the
lawn mower. Some of the pansies, I have been doing the same.

What do you have there for drinking water? Do you have well water? I guess
since you are in Sydney, you are on city water. Maybe you can fill a few jugs
now in case the start limiting.

Told you 100 times , come to Tasmania and bring your boat

valerie wrote:
What do you have there for drinking water? Do you have well water? I guess
since you are in Sydney, you are on city water. Maybe you can fill a few jugs
now in case the start limiting.

We've got great quality tap water - some say it is the best in the world, and I won't argue with them.

There are 15 dams supplying Sydney, but the problem is the dams have to be able to hold enough water to go more than 10 years without significant rain to replenish them. Very few cities in the world need that amount of water stored. We have also built a desalination plant since the last drought just-in-case.

Australia actually has the most water stored per person in the world, but we are also the driest continent in the world.

The Millennium Drought was a wake-up call though. My landlord fitted water-saving faucets & shower heads to all apartments, and I have a dual-flush toilet to cut water usage.

Though I did have a go at the gardeners of my building recently for planting non-native plants that need frequent watering. Told them to plant local species that can last for months without watering. Some people just have no idea...

I would say lack of water is a big problem in some areas of the world
and may even become a bigger issue over time.

It has only been in recent years that water moved to number one as
the largest commodity in the world. It was coffee.

That's interesting about the dams.

I learn something new every day.

the condition is to worsen year by year; there will be war between nations for water in the future no doubt about it. so let's be beware of protecting the nature or else pay for our negligence

We have gone thru the driest summer in memory here in BC Canada
and had the most expensive wildfire season.Still not that much rain
but now seeing the odd days with some.

Wedll, here in the southeast of Spain, ou rwater reservois ARE AT 15% OF THEIR CAPACITY. eXCEPT FOR A FEW DROPS nothing OF RAIN for months. We should be in fall, and the temperatures are well above the averaged. Kind of still late summer. The mediterranean sea still got 25 C in the area of Alicante/Murcia. And the very long term prediccion says dry and warm winter.

Think all rain gone to Tasmania , record rain here this year......last 100 day here,,,,, rain for 82 day, crap I hate rain
my house is green from to much rain and my soul to

Our rainfall is down in the Midwest US but I'm still seeing green lawns. I feel lucky to see all the green hills, green pastures and turning leaves around me. We're supposed to get rain tomorrow afternoon.

Hope you get rain soon.

I've been doing some planting the past few days, shrubs and pansies.

The grass is green and the leaves are beginning to fall but the ground
is very very dry. As I dug the holes for the plants, it was like sand.

The rain is to start here, Saturday afternoon, I think it said. We do
sure need it.