THERE has been severe flooding along parts of the east coast of Australia with the towns of Grafton and Lismore evacuated over the weekend. Grafton is towards the bottom of the mighty Clarence River which is completely unregulated. I can’t find a reliable estimate for the amount of water discharged on average or during flood events. It drains an area of 23-thousand square kilometres.
It doesn’t matter what time of year you drive through this region, known as the Northern Rivers District, it is always green and the wide Clarence is always brimming with water.
In Australia we repeat the mantra that this is the driest inhabited continent on earth but, according to the World Resource Institute, we have 51,000 litres of available water per capita per day, this is one of the highest in the world, and well ahead of countries such as the United Kingdom with only 3,000 litres per capita per day.
[Read more…] about Unwilling Communities on Big Rivers will be Flooded
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.