The Wire

Australia may soon run out of water if we continue pulling water out of the ground at the current rate. Most of the water we drink shower under and water our gardens with, comes from underground because the few rivers we have are running dry. The level of groundwater extraction has doubled in the past few decades, with the pressure of population growth and the demands of the mining sector which is a huge consumer of water. In Australia, groundwater provides more than 30% of Australia’s total water consumption and provides billions into agricultural, mining and industrial development. Mike Young says that worryingly we as individuals, are less interested today in water conservation than we were at the turn of the millennium in the midst of drought.